Pearls
by RhiannonKelley
Summary: Cousins Bella, Alice and Rosalie are new to Forks, and the Cullen Brothers are very interested, but they have to solve the mystery of the Swan family before getting too close to these thee girls.
1. Three Cord Rope

HI ALL, Here's my new story. Its a Twilight Fanfiction, so here are the disclaimers: I don not in any way shape or form own any of the Characters in this story. They belong to Stephanie Meyer.

Basic outline: This story is a UA, potentially NC-17, romantic, some mystery, and little angst. Bella, Alice and Rosalie are cousins and have moved to Forks. The Cullen Brothers are very interested, but don't seem to stand a chance with these girls, until they start solving the mystery of the Swan family secret.

Three Cord Rope

Bella:

I turned around in my room for one last look. Phoenix would soon be a distant memory, because I could never return. My mother had spent the last few weeks crying, knowing that the time had come for me to return to my father. I told her that she shouldn't worry, because she had Phil. Besides, she was also moving from Phoenix to Florida. More heat. I was glad to be leaving for Forks.

"But it won't be the same, we had become a family. Forks is so dreary, are you sure this is what you want?" She asked me in her quiet voice, her eye were pleading. This was so unlike my mother, to be sad and unhappy, I preferred her happy, and absent-minded. I didn't want to leave but at the same time I did, however all this sadness was making me slightly resentful of my mother. Seriously, she knew what would happen when she married my dad, and she also remembered what my dad told her when she said she was leaving him. My dad explained to her the chances of how things would be, a fifty, fifty chance, he said. Don't be alarmed or upset he told her. My going to live with him shouldn't have come as such a shock to her, but nonetheless, my mother took it rather hard.

"Mom, Rosalie and Alice will be there. I won't be lonely, besides they're more like my sisters than cousins. We'll be together, we'll be each others support and they need me now." I constantly reminded my mother of this, be she didn't want to listen. I took one last look at myself in the mirror, I didn't relish looking in the mirror, but it was something that I couldn't help doing. I hoped I wouldn't be a disappointment to my dad. My average brown eyes, with average brown hair and average face stared back. I didn't inherit any of the Swan beauty, but Alice and Rosalie had it, especially Rosalie. She had it by the boat load. I also wasn't graceful, but rather accident prone, I was definitely far removed from my namesake.

I grabbed my suitcase and walked out of my Phoenix bedroom. I hid it well, but I still think my mother knew I was happy to abandon the desert. I wanted to return to Forks, to be near the water. Looking back, I don't see how my parents could have made a go of their marriage in the first place. My father needed to be near the water, and my mother wanted the heat, they were so different from each other. Don't get me wrong, I am glad my parents got together; I wouldn't be here if they didn't. Still with the two of them, it was like watching oil and water trying to mix.

The one thing I didn't count on was my mother taking me with her to the desert. I put on a brave face for her, because I didn't want to hurt her feelings, but I missed my dad. She discovered over the years that I am my father's daughter. She had to noticed all the signs, especially of late. My latent abilities had finally shown themselves, along with the yearning to be near the water, to be around lush vegetation. My feelings had become so very over powering that I could no longer ignore them. So one day, out of the blue, my dad calls my mom and tells her that its time for me to live with him. It was all so strange, I never talked to my dad about moving, or living with him, or any of the other feelings I had. It was almost as if he knew.

The arrangements were quickly made, as I tried not to look eager at the prospect of going home, to live with dad. Of course the excitement doubled when he said that Alice and Rosalie would be moving in also. I asked him how he would deal with three females, living in such a small house. His answer was mysterious and elusive, so I knew that meant I would find out when I got to Forks.

I went down the stairs ready and eager to get on the plane to Washington, when my mother stopped me.

"I've been meaning to give you this for a while now" she had jewelry box, about the size of a large laptop and almost as deep as a kitchen sink, in both her hands. It was beautiful and simplistic. The wood was mahogany and had a nice slightly dull gloss to it. I set my luggage down and took the box and I opened it. I couldn't quite believe what I was seeing, but I did know this, a seventeen year old girl shouldn't be able to get her hands on jewelry like this.

"According to your father, when his mother was pregnant with him, she thought she was pregnant with a baby girl. When your father was born instead, it came as such a surprise. During your grandmother Swan's pregnancy, she had collected some jewelry for an expected daughter, so instead of getting rid of it, your grandmother kept it for your father to give to you. She didn't want to take a risk that a granddaughter would go without the customary jewelry that befits a Swan lady."

"Who would give a teenage girl jewelry like this?" I had to ask, because in that box was a small fortune.

"That's something your father will have to explain to you. Come on, let's get going, you have a plane to catch." My mom decided, at the last minute of course, to have my jewelry box sent to me instead of trying to explain it as a carryon. I was finally leaving for Forks, I was finally going home.

Alice:

I remember standing behind the tree, looking on as they buried my mother. The gentle breeze blowing my short hair all around, and the mild headache I had from crying so much. I don't think my eyes were very blue at that moment. I looked around and noticed all the people in attendance for the first time. I had to admit that I was surprised at how many of the Brandons actually came to the funeral. My uncle, Charlie, looked completely worn out, his dark grey eyes looked tired and stormy, but I had to give it to him, he did a fabulous job of hiding his feelings from the Brandons, considering he was there to bury his sister. I just didn't understand how he did it, handling all the questions from my father's family.

"So, where do the Swans actually come from? Why was your sister so obsessed with the water? Does Alice get her strange personality from the Swans, because she sure doesn't behave like a Brandon." And the list goes on. Charlie would run a hand through is dark brown hair, let out a sigh and carefully blank his face. It turned out to be fine, because I found out quite a bit about mom, about her family, and my uncle's answers also helped me piece together a few things about myself.

All too soon we were leaving the burial site, and were heading for my grandmother's huge plantation style home for the repast. There were cars being parked by valets in front of the huge white house, people were greeting each other as if going to a social event. My mother was not well liked by these people. Who could feel like eating and socializing at a time like this? This was my first funeral, and so I was a bit overwhelmed. Everything was going along as well as could be expected, when shortly before seven, my Uncle Charlie announced he would be leaving the following day. Everyone asked if he could stay a while longer, polite southern manners and all, but we all knew they really didn't want him to stay. Except for me. Charlie declined, saying he had some things to take care of immediately in relation to my mother's death back home.

"Which reminds me," Charlie said as he walked over to me. He was carrying a rather nice sized jewelry box. It was on the table before, and I hadn't noticed it until he picked it up. "These are for you and you only. These belonged to your mother, she had decided she didn't want to bring them with her after she married." I was speechless. I had to stop myself from snatching the box out of his hands. I remembered the feeling of desperation to have something that was my mother's.

"Let me help you with those Alice, a young girl like you shouldn't have jewelry like that yet. I'll hold on to the jewels until you are of age." My grandmother said in her smooth voice. Looked at her face, it was a careful mask, but her mouth was almost a straight line of Max Factor Red lipstick. It wasn't the first time I wondered if my grandmother had peaked in this box, because she seemed bent of obtaining my mother's jewelry. I knew that face and I knew that voice, it held a hint of steel, and I wanted so badly to object, but before I could say anything, Charlie came to my rescue.

"The jewels are meant for Alice and Alice alone. It is a custom in our family that the mother's jewels go directly to her daughter, without delay. I can promise you that most of the pieces Alice would not wear anyway, well at least until she were older. Its sort of a sixth sense the women of our family have." Everyone stiffened at the words 'sixth sense'. It was the first time anyone acknowledged my special abilities out right. Charlie gave my grandmother a knowing look, she looked mutinous at letting me have my mother's jewels, but said nothing to object to Charlie's generous gift. I sent a nervous glance around the room, and then quickly thanked my uncle and ran upstairs to my room. I locked the door and opened the jewelry box.

I know that my eyes bugged out of my head, and I knew that my grandmother had looked in this box, and probably got caught by Charlie and so had to plot to get my jewelry some other way. I also had a million questions going through my mind. I knew in that instant I needed to find out more about my mother, and her family, and why she had these magnificent pieces of jewelry and didn't bring them with her to Biloxi. There was only one way to do that and so I ran downstairs.

"Charlie!" I yelled, before reaching the living room. Everyone turned to look at me as I entered. My grandmother was thoroughly disgusted, I could tell by the look on her face.

"Alice, ladies do not overexert themselves." She said, that almost straight line of Max Factor Red had returned. If everything went according to plan that would be the last time I see that look on her face, or see that color of red lipstick. I hated Max Factor.

"Yes, I'm sorry. Charlie, would it be alright if I came to live with you?" The whole room went completely silent. The Brandons looked horrified, and my uncle looked stunned.

"Alice what brought this on?" He asked gently, I think he was as nervous as me.

"I just think it's about time I get to know the other half of my family." I answered.

"I don't see why not, besides Bella is coming to live with me. That's partly why I have to return to Forks so quickly. I'm sure she would love to have you with us, that is if it's okay with your father." He smiled, genuinely for the first time in the few days he had been here in Biloxi.

"Who is Bella?" My grand mother asked, I could just hear the disapproval in her voice. I knew what she was thinking. Is it wrong to hate a love your grandmother? Because right now, my grandmother was being a grade A bitch.

"My daughter, she's the same age as Alice."

"Where has your daughter been all this time?" Grandmother was on a scent. She smelled a story.

"In Phoenix with her mother, now if you'll excuse me" Charlie said as he went up the stairs to his guestroom.

"Your father will not like this Alice. You know he has plans for you to attend a boarding school in Switzerland. You will be pursuing the proper education you were meant to have, now that your mother…can't interfere." This was grandmother, naturally.

I had to get control of my anger. I knew the Brandons never approved of my mother, but she was an exceptional beauty and so tolerated her. My father, well he never loved my mother either. It was all about the thrill of the chase, and obtaining a fine object of art to parade around, to make him look good. I still couldn't believe I had ever been born, they both must have been drunk at the time of my conception. I knew my father lost interest in my mother quickly, when she graced the world with a girl, instead of a boy.

I rarely saw any of the Swans, but I always kept in contact with Bella and Rosalie, my cousins. We were like a three cord rope, nothing could break us apart, so the prospect of even living with one was amazing.

"I'm going to Forks to live with Uncle Charlie. Then I will be out of your hair, and daddy can marry that slut he's been fucking since as long as I can remember. This family never wanted me or my mother, so this is a good chance to get rid of me, without spending a large sum of the family money. Daddy can save that for the baby boy he doesn't think I know about." I didn't think it could get anymore quiet after I asked to live with Charlie, but this time the silence was deafening. My grandmother was actually trembling, my father's brothers and sisters looked as if someone had slapped them hard across the face. I had just aired all the Brandon dirty laundry to everyone that was there. I did not care. I turned and ran upstairs and quickly began packing my bags. When I finished packing, I pounded on Charlie's door, he opened it and I sniffled. That's when I realized I had started crying.

"Alice!" But that's all I allowed him to say.

"Please, purchase another plane ticket, I'm coming with you tomorrow." I turned on my heel and went back to my room.

Rosalie:

I still had the blankets pulled over my head because I didn't want anyone to know I was home, not yet. That was about to change, because my mom had just yanked the blankets back. I was still curled in a tight ball, I pretended to sleep.

"Rose, please tell me where you were last night. The police called here looking for you, Royce has gone missing." It wasn't question, it was a statement. Mom was shaking me awake. I answered her quickly, too quickly perhaps.

"Hamlin State Park."

"Were you with Royce?" I didn't know how to answer that question, because I was with Royce. I didn't want to incriminate myself, I wasn't sure just how much my parents knew at the moment.

"Yes."

"Well where is he? How did you get home?"

"I drove home, because I started to feel uncomfortable." Boy was that an understatement. I shivered involuntarily, and brushed back some of my blond hair. I realized then that it must look like a rat's nest at the moment. I looked up into my mom's soft green eyes, she didn't seem to be alarmed, just relieved. I think she just assumes that I had been swimming. Swimming was not something she enjoyed discussing.

"But Royce is a gentleman, why would you start feeling uncomfortable?"

"He met some of his friends up there, and they started drinking. So I packed up my stuff and left. Why, what's happened?" I hoped I hadn't rushed the question. My large wide violet eyes attempting to appear innocent, I already knew what happened.

"The police can't find him, his family is worried sick. I would guess the same for his friends. What time did you leave the beach?" Mom pressed.

"A little after ten." I was fortunate there weren't any marks on my body, and that the circumstances surrounding their disappearance wouldn't come back to completely bite me in the ass.

The memories will be hard to shake. My mother wouldn't listen anyway, she had locked that part of herself away years ago. Years ago when she married father, a very wealthy banker from Rochester, New York. I guess she figured a palatial house in an upscale neighborhood was an excellent trade in for what she left behind in the Pacific Northwest.

"You didn't get" Mom never did finish that question, because the police were now here to question me. The questioning didn't take long, and I answered better than I thought. I still don't think the shock of everything that had happened had hit me yet.

Still I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. I felt an ambivalent grief over what happened out at the Hamlin Beach camp grounds. I didn't want to do what I did, but I had to save myself. A few days went by, and my mom had received a phone call telling her, her sister had passed. Of course she didn't attend the funeral, because she hated the Brandons, she left that responsibility to my Uncle Charlie. This mystified me, because the Brandons did to my aunt, what my mom does to herself. My father loves my mom as she is, but mom rarely lets us see who she really is, which is sad, because we are so much alike. More alike than she cares to know I bet.

I tried calling Alice, but that bitch of a grandmother she has never lets me talk to her, so I sent her a long letter. I called Bella to tell her the news, and she said she would try and get in touch with Alice on her end. I think she probably ended up writing a letter as well. The days continued to go by and the King family was making statewide news, Royce still had not come home. I flinched every time I saw his mother around the neighborhood or on TV in tears. I had to be strong, because if the events turned out like I thought they would, I would be in the clear.

I was happy during this waiting period, to get a letter from Alice. She was fine, and she had inherited her mother's jewelry and she was going to live with Uncle Charlie.

That wasn't such a bad idea, the Brandons were assholes and everyone knew it. Alice said her father didn't take the news to well, but was all for letting her go when she told him she knew about his mistress and her bastard brother. Excellent, Alice fought the fight and won. This was inspiration for me, because I was in the middle of battle myself and I felt like I was losing.

Every time I went out and saw Mrs. King, I wanted to run and hide. She always greeted me with a warm, sad smile. I felt like shit, because she was such a nice lady, someone her son didn't deserve. Still the ambivalent grief held on, until the day of reckoning came. It was some idle Thursday, I was helping mom with some chores when the story broke over the radio we were listening to. The body of Royce King II had been found, along with his friend's bodies. My mother looked up at me stunned, and I just started bawling.

"Aw Rose, I know he was your first serious boyfriend." She said and she wrapped her arms around me. I couldn't say anything, because I knew the truth. Royce was my first serious boyfriend and I had murdered him, I murdered him because he and his friends had tried to gang rape me. I didn't mean to do it, but I had to save myself. I pulled away from my mother and ran to my room. I lay on the bed and cried until I was all cried out. Then the numbness set in. I guess I fell asleep at some point, because the next time I woke up, it was about seven in the morning. The sun was beginning to peek through my windows, and I felt disoriented. Then the previous day's events flashed through my mind. I didn't want to think about it, so I picked up Alice's letter and reread it.

"I'm going to live with Uncle Charlie and Bella! I can't wait! I need to get away from here." This sentence seemed to leap out at me, and struck me completely different from the first time I read it. I needed to get away, and where else would I go, but to live with my cousins. Besides, Charlie would tell me things I needed to know about me that mom refused to talk about.

I went downstairs to breakfast, and my parents regarded me sadly. I managed a weak smile and began eating slowly. I needed to time this right, because I knew my father would understand, but my mother wouldn't.

"How are you this morning honey?" My mother asked, her smile was encouraging and she looked so concerned.

"I'm fine. Can I go live with Uncle Charlie and Bella?" So much for perfect timing.

"Why would you want to live them?" Her attitude completely changed. There was this tone, as if she were talking about some species of insect.

"I just need a new scene, considering everything that has happened." I was grasping at straws. I knew I was losing this battle and I needed some backup, but where would I get it. Then suddenly, out of left field my father spoke.

"I think it could be a good change for Rosalie. She has had a traumatic experience. Losing a boyfriend, and finding out right before he died that he wasn't the way he presented himself." My dad smiled sadly at me. I knew he meant it to be encouraging.

"Did they ever say how he died?" I asked, pretending to be interested. I think this was my first mistake.

"Yes, he drowned along with his friends. They were trying to swim after drinking." Dad said, and I glanced over at my mother. She looked confused, then suspicious, then knowing.

"Ok, you can live with Charlie." She said suddenly. Dad and I both looked at her in surprise.

"Rose, please help me in the kitchen" my mother said while getting up with her plate in hand. I knew this wasn't going to be good. Once in the kitchen, my mother rounded on me.

"Rosalie, please tell me you didn't"

"Mom, it was six against one. I didn't mean to, but I had to defend myself." Mom was silent for a few moments and then she grabbed my hand and led me upstairs to her room. Once there she gave me this jewelry box, it looked a lot like the one Alice described in her letter. She also gave me a velvet pouch. I later discovered that pouch contained two ornate combs and an elegant hand mirror.

"Why are you giving me these things now?" I asked.

"Because it will help when Charlie explains everything to you, all your questions will be answered when you get to Washington State."

"Mom, you could tell me everything" I pressed. This was the first time in a while she came close to even telling me what I needed to know about myself, about us.

"I can't. I'm not the same person as I was before, and I wouldn't be genuinely interested in helping you. I love my life now and I don't want that to change. Look its best if you go and live with Charlie, before anyone suspects that you had anything to do with Royce and his friends dying. Although if they knew the truth, the wouldn't believe it. I do have to ask you, what happened?"

"They tried to rape me. He called me names, and he started trying to remove my clothes. I got away and ran after some struggle. I ran towards the water, it was the only place I could go. I dived in, and he and his friends came in after me. I could hear them teasing me, and saying all these awful things. How no one would believe me if I said anything, I was scared, angry and hurt, and so one by one, I pulled them under until each one lost consciousness. My hatred was so blinding that I couldn't think straight. When I finished I ran back to the site, packed up all my stuff left."

My mother was silent during my whole confession. She looked pained, but she understood.

"How many times have you gone swimming?" She emphasized swimming because she couldn't bring herself to say what we both knew.

"For eight years now." Mom looked shocked, but remained silent for a few minutes more.

"I will call Charlie and make the arrangements. We'll try to get you out of Rochester, tonight if possible." With that mom left the room and I went to pack my bags.


	2. The Brothers Cullen

** Here's the next chapter. as usual**, **I don't own anything in the Twilight universe.**

Mystery, Romance, Angst, AU, for mature readers.

The Brothers Cullen

Edward:

"Hey Emmett, Lauren is giving you all the right signals" I said with a smirk. This didn't do over to well, because some of his French fries were hurled at my head.

"That skank! Didn't Jasper fuck her last week?" Emmett asked. His intense hazel eyes glared at me.

"Um, no. Tyler did and now she's ripe for someone else."

"No thank you, I wouldn't take Crowley's leftovers to save my life." I laughed at Emmett's whole take on this situation and Jasper finally showed up for lunch.

"Running a little late aren't you?" I asked. Jasper's blond hair was all over the place. Evidently he had to run outside to get to the cafeteria, he said nothing, he just flipped me the bird and started in on his explanation.

"Yeah, Jessica Stanley had me backed in a corner. She wanted to know the best way she could hook up with you." Jasper sent me a sly look and smile. I nearly choked on my lunch. After a brief coughing fit, I was finally able to speak.

"Can't that girl take a hint? It's not going to happen." Jasper had a shit-eating grin on his face.

"Thanks Jazz, you couldn't tell her to fuck off?"

"What would be the fun in that?! Besides, watching Jessica trying to chase you down is hysterical." Jasper had to be a sadistic pig, I think he wanted me to kill him."There's no challenge with the girl's here anymore, and doing Stanley would be just because of sheer boredom" I explained to Jasper and Emmett.

"Well you won't have to worry about being bored for long, we're supposed to get three new students here. Female students." Emmett announced with an emphasis on the female student part and a mildly wicked grin on his face. I had to admit I felt my mouth breaking into the same grin, but it was short lived. Jasper promptly rained on our parade.

"Yeah, yeah Emmett I know all about them. Forget it, they're Chief Swan's girls. Well actually one is his daughter and the other two are his nieces, plus don't you guys think that Chief Swan is a little strange? I think it we should leave these girls alone." We knew what Jasper was getting at. The man was strange, always out on his boat fishing. Now to the regular outsider that wouldn't be a reason to think someone strange. What made the chief strange were the catches he made while fishing. No one could fish like the chief, and no one questioned it either.

"I didn't know Swan had a daughter." I answered.

"Does the word 'police' mean anything to you?" Emmett shot back. We never got into any serious trouble, but you know what they say, "boys will be boys". I think if our family wasn't so rich, and our father wasn't such a prestigious doctor, then we probably would see a lot more disciplinary actions come our way. We were left to our own devices most of the time, getting straight A's helps in that a lot. We weren't into drugs, but the occasional drink perhaps, plus could we help it if the girls of Forks High threw themselves at us?

I didn't want to admit it to myself, but I was getting tired of the same routine. Tired of the same little 'tricks' and 'games' that were played to get some girl in my back seat, my bed, her bed or any where else I could get laid. I actually wanted an honest-to-goodness girlfriend, unfortunately the girls that attended this school were vapid and shallow. The occasional girl that was worth looking at already had a serious boyfriend. Exhibit A: Angela Weber. Her college age boyfriend keeps close tabs on her and gave her explicit instructions not to even look in our direction. I couldn't blame the cockblocker, Angela was worth protecting. This would be the kind of girl that would make having a girlfriend worth it, and this type of girl was also in very short supply at Forks High.

"I think we need more information on the situation, I mean a new girl is a new girl." I suggested. Emmett and Jasper seemed to agree. We fell silent at the lunch table, which was strange for us. Before I knew it, lunch was over and I was heading for biology.

Emmett:

I was coming home from hockey practice, when I remembered the conversation at lunch. The chief's daughter and nieces were moving in with him. Honestly, I had to admit it had been on my mind when I first heard about it. Of course I heard about from the Newton's, I had stopped by their outdoors store and overheard Mrs. Newton getting all the town gossip. I usually never listen to that shit, but this got my attention.

"Yes, Charlie Swan is a very hardworking man, but do you really think he can take care of three teenage girls?" I heard her asking Mrs. Stanley. I didn't hear the rest of the conversation, which just goes to show I should've been listening, because I could have found out exactly when they were arriving. Suddenly without thinking, I decided to drive past the chief's house. I remembered just in time that he had moved a little closer to our neighborhood. A family member of his died, and so he inherited this huge ass house. According to Carlisle, it's an old American Craftsman bungalow, whatever that is. I don't know why anyone would want such a big house to look like a bungalow, but there it was. Chief Swan had been spending the last few months fixing it up. At first we thought he was going to sell it, but then he moved in. We thought he was crazy, always fishing and hanging out at La Push beach near the reservation, now a daughter and nieces.

I slowed down some before passing the house, partly because I was being nosey and partly because I didn't want a ticket. The house was easy to spot, the only on like it on the street, and grey-blue in color. There they were, on the porch, the three girls. They looked like they were moving something into the house. Perfect. I pulled over, got out the car and rushed over to help. By the time I got up the drive, only the blond was outside by an old red pick-up truck.

"Hi, need any help?" I asked, then she turned around and I was speechless. The girl standing before me was breathtaking. Those violet eyes, her honey-gold hair, full lips and curvy body, she would definitely be the most beautiful girl at Forks High.

"No. I think we have everything. Thanks just the same." Her voice was throaty and sexy and cold. I blinked, slightly puzzled, I looked in her eyes and her face was a careful mask. Okay, I'd try another approach.

"Hi, I'm Emmett Cullen. I live a about a block over from you." I extended my hand. The sexy blond looked at my hand like she was debating on whether to take it or not. Finally she shook my hand, her hands felt like silk.

"Rosalie Hale, nice to meet you, now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back inside." As if on cue, the other two girls came out, I couldn't wait to tell Jasper and Edward.

"Rose, hurry up and quit flirting with that boy!" A short, tiny, cute girl with short spiky hair said loudly from the porch. Rosalie froze in place.

"I am NOT flirting! He was just leaving." This didn't stop the short girl, who promptly tripped down the stairs, the third girl had soft brown hair, her beauty was kind of on the ethereal side, she held back.

"Hi, Alice Brandon." She grabbed my hand and gave me this energetic handshake.

"And the one on the porch is Bella Swan. We just moved here." Alice was so excited, I looked over at Bella and she waved shyly and blushed.

"Yes, and now we have to go and eat dinner. Like I said, it was nice to meet you Emmett." Rosalie all but dragged Alice back into the house and Bella waved shyly and followed them in and shut the door. I stood there for a few moments before heading back to my car. Rosalie Hale. I think I'm in love.

Jasper:

"Emmett, please try not to be late to dinner tomorrow, I have important guests coming." Mom said to Emmett. Emmett had looked strange when he came in from practice, aside from the usual body funk, he just looked different, as if in deep thought. Emmett was never voluntarily in deep thought.

"Emmett, is there something that's on your mind?" Carlisle asked.

"Huh?! Oh nothing, I was just thinking about this girl I just met." My parents groaned and Edward and I sat up. Meeting girls was top priority with us.

"Who is she?" I asked excitedly, because everyone knew girls traveled in packs.

"Rosalie Hale." He sighed. That bastard actually sighed! I started to get a slight tingle of worry and fear. I shoved it to the back of my mind.

"Who is that?" Edward asked, we had never heard of a girl called Rosalie in our entire lives.

"Charlie Swan's niece." Carlisle answered in a soft voice. Edward and I didn't know who to stare at first, Carlisle or Emmett. The eerie feeling returned.

"Carlisle, how did you know?" Emmett asked.

"Do you really have to allow them to call you by your first name?" Mom asked.

"Esme, its okay. I know because I was over to Charlie's house last night helping the girls move in." We stared at Carlisle in shock, then we asked fifty questions at once. Carlisle held his hand up for silence, so I jumped at the chance to ask first.

"Why didn't you tell us that's where you going last night!?" I yelled. We had just been talking about the new girls and the possibilities, and our father was cockblocking. Unbelievable!

"Because you three have awful reputations when it comes to young women, plus these girls need to feel at home and not hunted." Carlisle replied. I wasn't going to touch that statement, I could incriminate myself with the slightest acknowledgement that what he was saying was true. I guess Emmet and Edward felt the same because they were silent as the grave.

"Ok Emmett, out with it, tell all about Charlie's girls." Edward's face was pure envy and frustration.

"More like Charlie's Angels! I drove past the house out of curiosity and they were outside, moving some things in. I offered to help, but Rosalie said they had everything under control. She's just gorgeous." Emmett truly looked like he had been touched by magic.

"Charlie's Angels?! Man Emmett, you can't go around saying shit like that or, looking like that just because of some girl, people will think you're soft! So who are the other two." I asked, trying not to look too excited. I thought my mom would have a stroke, bad move on my part to start using "foul language", Carlisle threw me a warning look.

"Sorry." I muttered.

"Alice Brandon and Bella Swan. Alice seems very friendly, Rosalie was a little distant, and Bella was very shy. All three are so different. I would think all are starting school tomorrow, if they are, I'm sure you will be hearing all about them." Emmett stated. I sat back and finished my dinner as quickly as possible. Everyone was suddenly very silent at the table. I noticed Edward and Emmett inhaling their food, in a mad dash to get to their rooms. Carlisle and mom just shook their heads because they knew what was coming next. I don't know what we were rushing for, nerves, excitement, I just didn't know. All I knew was that something was about to change, I knew deep down inside that things were going to be different.


	3. Vanity

**Here's the latest chapter, again the characters and world of Stephanie Meyer don't belong to me.**

**Story: AU, Romance, Mystery, Angst, Mature themes. Sorry if i didn't cover all the sub-topics, after this chapter, things will start to get a little more strange.  
**

Vanity

Rosalie:

"Alice, I'm going to kill you!" I yelled as soon as the door was shut behind us. I could feel the blood rushing to my face.

"Rosalie, he was just being friendly." Bella said, trying to calm me down. Friendly my ass, I knew those college guy types. Out for one thing, and when they can't get, they try to take it. I hated admitting even to myself how hot the guy was, his height, his muscle bound body, those silky dark curls and dimples were a lethal combination. It was just better all around to steer clear.

"I didn't want to get friendly." I knew I was being ridiculous, I just didn't care. Guys were not something I wanted to deal with at the moment, especially after the whole "Royce Incident".

"Well, he wanted to be friendly with you." Sometimes Alice's voice can be annoying.

"Okay, well what if he wanted to hit on you?" I asked. Alice was suddenly very quiet, she was thoughtful before answering.

"Truthfully, I don't know. I've been thinking about mom so much that the thought of meeting any boys hasn't really crossed my mind." Without warning, she closed her eyes in concentration. At first I thought she was asleep, but I realized shortly afterward that she was not asleep. Her eyes stayed closed for a long time and the longer her eyes stayed closed, the more I began to wonder. Bella and I looked at each other, wondering what was going on. Suddenly Alice started to blush, and then her eyes flew open.

"No, I don't think I'm ready for a boyfriend. Rosalie, Bella I don't think you two are ready for one either." I think we just stared at Alice.

"What are you talking about?" This conversation was getting stranger and stranger by the minute.

"Emmett really likes you Rose, but you really aren't ready. You have to make him understand that." Alice was now beginning to creep me out, how could she possibly know how I feel.

"There's nothing for him to understand, how do you know he really likes me? He just met" But I didn't get a chance to finish.

"You'll see him at school." Alice finished up.

"Emmett? That guy is a teenager!? You're kidding, right?" Once I got excited, it was hard for me calm down. I really didn't want to deal with a guy at school, this is supposed to be a fresh start.

"Yes, and there are two others." Alice almost whispered. Bella just stared at Alice, and then,

"So it's true, you can see the future." Bella stated, it wasn't a question, she didn't seem too surprised. I couldn't speak for myself

"Yes. But it doesn't take much for things to change, the visions aren't guaranteed to happen, they're subjective." Alice was trying her best to explain.

"How long have you been able to see visions?" I asked, because this was the first I'd ever heard of it.

"Since the first time my mother took me to ocean. We were on a family trip to Florida, ever since then I have had these visions." Alice wasn't telling the whole story, I couldn't really be upset with her, because I had a few things I was hiding myself. I looked over at Bella, her face was completely blank. I didn't have a clue if she was hiding anything, but if she was, I couldn't blame her. I had feeling that there would be a lot of that going around.

"You said there were two others." Bella prompted Alice.

"Yes, Emmett's bothers maybe? One has brownish bronze hair with green eyes. He's beautiful, and then the other has golden blond hair, like Rosalie's and deep blue eyes and he's very handsome." I noticed that when Alice mentioned the blond, she blushed deeply.

"The whole Goddamn story Alice! Leave nothing out!" I knew I was shouting, but seriously, Alice needed to tell us everything.

"Emmett is going to pursue Rose, and he's going to get to you eventually. Just like the bronze haired boy is going to pursue Bella and the blond is going to pursue me. You've already told him you aren't ready more or less, unless you change your mind by tomorrow." Alice looked at me, all questioningly. I glanced over at Bella to see how she was holding up, she appeared to have stopped breathing.

"Bella?"

"Are you sure about this Alice?" Bella finally asked and exhaled.

"I'm 95% sure."

"Well don't you want a boyfriend Alice?" She seemed to get so flustered at the thought of this boy. There was that telltale blush again.

"Not so soon after moving here." She blushed even deeper.

"Alice, how graphic are your visions?" Bella finally asked, I wondered what she was trying to find out.

"Very graphic." Alice looked at her toes, Bella's face became a sheet of scarlet, and I know my face became pale, because I think I finally caught on.

"So you mean you will eventually have sex with this blond-haired guy?" I asked. Alice turned a deeper shade of red, if that was possible.

"You didn't see me having sex with Emmett, did you?"

"NO! But something happens to make you change your mind about not being with him."

"How do you know I will be with the other one? What did you see?" Bella asked Alice.

"Well I don't know what he does to get you interested, but I saw you two holding hands at some point." Alice looked a little confused with Bella's vision, but that didn't have me as worried, Bella was stronger than she looked. I was concerned about Emmett and what he was going to do to change my mind about him.

"Bella, Alice, Rosalie." Charlie called as he walked in the house. We went into the living room to greet my uncle.

"No dad, we didn't go up to out rooms yet." Uncle Charlie has a surprise for each of us in our rooms, we just couldn't go and see them until he came home from work. I had the feeling he arranged to come home early.

"So, let's head upstairs." Charlie said and led the way.

Bella:

"Bella, lets see your room first." Dad said to me. We went up the stairs, past the two huge landings, going to the right. The second landing was so big that there was a bathroom off to the left. We finally made the second floor and walked down several feet. Dad indicated the door to the left and I slowly opened the door to see my room. It was very clean, painted pale green. I had a queen sized bed with a cherry wood desk, and matching chest, dresser and vanity. The curtains were sheer and pale green as well.

"Dad. A vanity. Really?" I gave him my best dry look. He smiled back and gently pushed me into the room. I had to admit the room was pretty. Not too girly, nice and simplistic. I slowly walked around looking at everything, while Alice and Rosalie joined me.

"Bella, this is nice!" Alice squealed. I smiled faintly and looked over to see Rosalie's reaction. Her eyes were fixed on my jewelry box.

"You have one of those too?" She looked over at me. Alice walked over to see what she was talking about.

"Yes." Alice and I said at the same time. We then looked at each other and then back a Charlie.

"We'll talk about that later. Tell me what you think of your room." He said changing the subject, I could tell he was trying not to be overly excited.

"Its very pretty, thanks." I didn't quite know what to say to my dad, we were just starting to get to know each other again. He smiled, so I guess he was pleased with my answer. I was still sort of wandering around the room, and found myself standing before the vanity. Without thinking, I pulled out the rather ornate chair and sat down. The chair was nice and cushiony, it fit like a glove. I glanced down at the contents on the vanity, there were several ornate combs and brushes, two hand mirrors, rather extravagant barrettes, pearl powder and the list went on. I wondered at my father sanity, he knew I wasn't into this stuff. I found myself looking at my reflection in the mirror, my average face stared back, but I kept on looking anyway.

"Bella, open your jewelry box." Alice demanded. I turned to notice Alice and Rosalie hovering over my jewelry box, they were staring at it with a single-minded intensity. I inexplicably felt threatened.

"Why don't we open all of ours together." I said, restraining from running over to grab the box and go into hiding.

"That seems fair." Rosalie said, shaking her head as if she were coming out of some sort of trance.

"Why don't we see my room next" Alice suggested. She seemed to bounce from my room to the hall way.

"It's the second door on the right." Dad called ahead to excited Alice. Before any of us could get to the door, Alice barged her way in, and gave an excited scream. She ran out the door and

"Oh Uncle Charlie! I love it!" She then whipped back into the room. Rosalie and I finally gained entrance to her room. It was very pretty. More frilly then mine, but that was Alice. Her room was vibrant ocean blue with stark white curtains. Her bedroom set matched as well, but it was pine, lightly stained. There was also a queen sized bed, with a chest, dresser, desk and a vanity.

Alice went straight to her vanity and gazed at the contents, similar to mine, but different. She then looked at herself in the mirror, as if mesmerized. Rosalie and I saw her jewelry box on the dresser. I felt an unusual, almost overwhelming sense of curiosity, almost as if I wanted to open her box. I resisted and looked at Rosalie. I swear she had the same expression on her face as me. We both looked at each other and then looked at Alice. She was still looking in the mirror. I find this to be very strange. Finally Alice looked up.

"This is the best room ever! Daddy has set me up with a monthly allowance, so we'll be able to shop and I can do makeovers!" Rosalie looked slightly excited, I must have looked horrified, because the next sentence out of Alice's mouth shocked me back to reality.

"Come on Bella, its not that bad! Besides, it will be fun!" She chirped. I glanced at Rosalie, and she just chuckled to herself.

"Okay, the suspense is killing me, lets go see my room." We walked out and Charlie directed us to down the hall still. There was a third door to the right, and Rosalie walked in first. We followed and I had to say Rosalie's room was just beautiful. It was a beautiful violet-grey color, with creamy sheer curtains and mahogany furniture. Again the furniture matched, queen sized bed, desk, dresser and vanity. Rosalie went straight for the vanity and instantly was absorbed in her reflection. Alice was at the jewelry box, looking like a blue jay preparing to steal the contents.

Rosalie finally glanced down at the contents on her vanity, pretty similar stuff as mine, but again different.

"Uncle Charlie, this is magnificent. So how much did mom and dad pay for?" Rosalie asked.

"You're mother never changes Rose, she wanted you to have the best. Your parents also pitched in to help renovate this house. I was glad too, we really need to keep this house in the family, I should've moved in after Amaryllis married your father Alice." We all looked at him stunned.

"You mean the Swans owned this house?" I asked.

"Yes it's been in the family for a long time. When my parents died, it was left to your mother Alice, being the oldest all. When she died, it was left to Mary, your mother Rosalie, she told me she had no interest in the house and so signed the deed over to me." Dad explained.

"That explains a lot." I said. Alice however had another idea.

"Go get your jewelry boxes and meet me down stairs in the living room." Alice then ran out of Rosalie's room. We could hear her in her room then shortly after, tearing down the stairs. Rosalie grabbed her boxed and walked out. I headed to my room to get my box, when I turned, dad was in the door way.

"Bella do you really like your room?" He looked nervous.

"Yes, I do. I just feel so different being here though, it's as if something has locked into place." I told him. He nodded his head in understanding and stood aside as I walked out. I slowly went down stairs to compare jewelry with Rose and Alice.


	4. School

**You know the drill. I don't own anything pertaining to the Twilight world or its characters.**

**Thanks for the reviews, they are much appreciated. I hope you like this next chapter.  
**

School

Edward:

This was the second time in the history of my life that I didn't want to be late to school. The first time was kindergarten, because once I realized, I would be able to chase girls around the playground and try to kiss them, I never wanted to be late to school again. This was pretty much like that.

"Jasper, hurry up or you can drive yourself!" I shouted up the stairs. Jasper was just a touch hung over from Sunday night. Wild party at Crowley's, parents out of town, the usual secret party. I had a feeling we wouldn't see Crowley today, he was passed out long before the party was over, his ass was going to get busted by mom and dad. This was a good thing, one less guy to worry about today.

Jasper came down stairs, looking the picture of a hung over Abercrombie and Fitch model.

"You look a little pasty, sure you don't want to skip school today?" Jasper just flipped me the bird. I knew why he was torturing himself, he wanted to see the new girls.

We piled in my car, and I took off down the street. Emmett was already at school, he had a zero period class this morning, besides he had already seen "Charlie's Angels". I was hoping at least of these girls would be worth talking to, because my latest behavior had been noticed by Jasper and Emmett. I wasn't getting laid nearly as much as I used to, as a matter of fact I wasn't getting laid at all lately.

It was because I really wanted a girlfriend. Now that I thought about it, none of us has been getting any lately. Every time we ask each other about a girl, we always give the smart-ass "no's". For the first time I wondered what really went on in my brother's heads. We quickly got used to girls throwing themselves at us, I know that sounds really egotistical, but it's the truth. In the beginning, we didn't mind catching some of these girls, but now lately, no one seemed interesting. I knew I couldn't speak totally for Em and Jazz, but I really was tired of the girls at school.

I pulled into the parking lot and noticed two cars I'd never seen before. One was a Jaguar XK convertible in a fiery red, the other was a BMW X6 xDrive50i, in a deep shade of blue.

"Holy shit! Look at those cars!" I think Jasper wet his pants. I suddenly felt insecure with my silver Volvo S60R. It was like I was losing a pissing match.

"I guess the new cars belong to Charlie's Angels." Jasper was still having shortness of breath. I couldn't blame him, any guy that could talk to a girl whose car would outclass his own is one bold son-of-a-bitch. I couldn't feel too bad, Jasper didn't even drive his car.

"Wait, I thought there were three girls, why only two cars?" Jasper was still the only one capable of speech. When I found my voice I said,

"May those cars don't belong to them." I would find out later just how wrong I was. I walked into school and already the new girls were starting a sensation. I heard conversations all over the school that went like this:

"Did you see the new blond? I wouldn't mind banging that every night!"

"Yeah man, she's out of reach, even for you."

Or something like:

"Did you see the little one? She's so pretty and she's easily the best dressed girl in school."

"Move over Jessica, I think we have a new miss popular on our hands."

Or even this:

"Wow, the chief's daughter is so shy, but she's gorgeous."

"I think she's hot too, but man, think about it. The chief of police's daughter. You couldn't get to first base with her."

So while all this was going on, I never did get a chance to see any of the girls myself, that is until lunch. Emmett and Jasper were at our table first, but they were completely absorbed, looking over at Angela's table. Angela was off limits, they knew this, so I looked over to see what the big deal was. I think I forgot to breathe, because Charlie's Angels were just that, Angels.

"So those are the Swan girls." I said as I sat down, Emmett and Jasper just nodded. The guys of Forks High didn't waste any time getting to know them either. Newton, Yorkie, and even Crowley were there in full force. Crowley was clearly hung over and looked like shit, but he was still trying to work his charm. Stanley and her slutty friend Mallory were sitting with them also, and Weber was no where in sight.

"So Emmet, are you going to talk to Rosalie?" Jasper asked.

"Nah, I'll wait for the dust to clear. I'd give it a week at least, I mean she was completely on her guard the other day, I don't want to seem too pushy. Look at her, does she look like she'll have a hard time getting a boyfriend? I swear Newton, Crowley and Yorkie have raging hard-ons at this point. They've barely moved an inch from the table. Probably trying to save face.

Jasper nodded in agreement, I just stared at the Swans, pretty ironic name.

"So where's Angela? I know she's usually the school's welcoming committee." I asked.

"She's out sick, which is actually a good thing. You know she would have warned them not to talk to us. So far they haven't even noticed us, which is fine for now." Jasper did have a point. As much as I admired Angela, she did make it her job to tell all new girls that we were bad news. A few listened and steered clear, as far as the rest, I think she only made them more curious. Our friend Ben swung by out table on the way to his.

"Hey." He said, we all nodded our heads.

"So what do you think of the cars in the lot?" He asked. No mystery as to what he was talking about.

"I think I had an orgasm." Emmett said. We all chuckled, but Ben continued.

"Yeah, the blond over there drives the red convertible, I think a few guys had an orgasm on site when they saw her drive up in it." Emmett just stared at Ben.

"Those girls own those cars?!" Jasper looked ready to pass out.

"Yep. The blue one belongs to Alice, the little Swan. Bella is the chief's daughter, she was in Alice's car. I didn't get the blond's name."

"Rosalie." Emmett said quietly. He was non-threatening, but Ben looked nervous just the same.

"You know her name already. I take that to mean you have an interest?" Ben asked, looking like all hope was lost.

"More than somewhat." Emmett was cocky, he had slight grin on his face. Ben took the hint, as he was meant to. We also knew that this bit of information would get around school by tomorrow morning. I had to hand it to Emmett, the man was bold. Ben didn't stick around too much longer after that.

Lunch ended quickly, and Biology was next. I walked in the classroom and went straight to my seat. I sat alone and no one seemed to go out of their way to want to sit next to me. I was kind of relieved, it kept me from having an unwanted lab partner, and it was the one class I could truly allow myself to get lost in thought. Everyone was settling in, and just before the bell, Bella Swan walked into the classroom. I knew where this was going, because there was only one seat left, the seat next to mine.

Jasper:

So Alice drove the BMW. Great, I was already outclassed. Her car was fucking hot! Everyone seemed to really like this girl, and I could understand why. I walked over to my Calculus class, in a daze. I was nearly there when I saw her. I prepared to walk casually over when she looked up and saw me. Our eyes locked, and then she turned fifteen shades of red, and turned and almost ran in the opposite direction.

That was the first time in my life that a girl had run away from me. I couldn't chase her like I wanted, I had to get to class. My grades and my freedom had this weird umbilical link, this was all Carlisle's doing. I thought that school would never end today, and to top it off, I saw Alice two more times, and she had the same reaction. For the first time in my life, I started to get a complex. The final bell finally sounded and I met Edward at his car. He looked dazed.

"What happened?"

"I have Biology with Bella." Edward still looked strange.

"How did it go?"

"What do you mean?"

"You struck out too?"

"Fuck you." Edward answered in the deceptively calm silky voice. I was amazed. Girls adored Edward, it was rather sickening. He struck and he was not pleased. If I hadn't of struck out with Alice myself, I might have found this hilarious as hell.

"If it makes you feel any better, the Little Swan ran away from me three times today." This seemed to sober Edward up a little.

"Wonder how Emmett did with Rosalie." We didn't have long to find out, because the scene was unfolding in the parking lot.

"Look, I'm not interested." Rosalie was getting a little loud. Emmett reached out to touch her, and that was his big mistake. Rosalie went off and slapped him hard across the face.

"Don't touch me!" She screeched, then turned and walked quickly to her car and drove hell for leather out of the parking lot. We stood there gaping in disbelief. No one had ever hit Emmett in his entire life. We could see the red hand print from where we were standing.

"No luck with Emmett then." I whispered. Emmett didn't look left or right, but marched to his Jeep Wrangler and tore out of the parking lot.

"I think we better follow him and see what he's up to." Edward said while getting in the car. Edward drove out of the lot as fast as he could, and barely saw Emmett turning a corner at break-neck speed.

"What is his problem?" I asked.

"That girl just humiliated him, he's a little sore right now."

I had never seen Emmett so angry before. We were able to catch up to him, and I had to admit I breathed a sigh of relief when he didn't go anywhere near the chief's house. That meant he still had some of his sanity left. I noticed that we were heading for La Push beach, It's where we always went when things were bothering us. Together or alone it didn't matter, the beach had a calming effect on us. Emmet was already parked and out the car. Edward parked next to him and we both jogged toward Emmett.

"Hey Em, are you alright?" I asked. His face was red from Rosalie's hand. The girl actually left a print. She must have hit him hard.

"I guess. It was so weird, I barely touched her. I knew I should have backed off. I saw her walking toward her car, and I just got excited. The next thing I know is that she's slapping me. She actually looked frightened when I tried to talk to her this time."

"Maybe you should leave this one alone then." Edward told Emmett. Emmett looked genuinely confused and even hurt. I wasn't expecting that.

"Seriously, do you really like this girl?" I had to know. Emmett looked thoughtful and then

"Yeah, I do. I don't know what it is, but I think she's really different. I hope you guys had better luck."

"Not so much. Alice ran from me three times. It was weird each time, she turned beet red and then ran. I haven't even had a chance to talk to her. Hey Edward, you never did tell me what happened with Bella in Biology."

Emmett:

I thought I had it bad, Jazz's story was pretty weird, but what Bella did to Edward was just wrong. I don't know if the boy will recover. I know one thing, he will keep trying until he gets Bella. I don't know if he really likes her or not, for now I think it's a pride thing. In a sick, twisted way I could understand how he felt, because none of us have ever had to try with girls. Now suddenly we're trying and tanking! Big Time! There was this phrase I heard once 'go big or go home'. This was the first time we had to go home and to be honest it didn't sit too well with me. I wanted Rosalie, but not if she was going to be scared of me. I needed to figure out why Rosalie was scared of me. I sat back and thought about how I treated all the girls I had ever been with or dated. I never forced anyone, and even if I were with a skanky girl, I never mistreated her. I love girls actually, and never had a problem before, I knew I could be egotistical, but I would never intentionally hurt anyone.

This girl was making me soul search, after slapping me. Then again I didn't have much of a choice, because I was completely confused. Rosalie had to be one of the most mysterious girls I have ever met, and I was quickly finding out that I was… intrigued. I was in uncharted waters.

"Let's get back home before we're late for dinner again." I said and strolled back to the cars. Edward and Jasper followed. They must have been thinking about the day's events because neither of them said anything else after Edward told his story. We got home just in time, dinner was in forty-five minutes.

"And you boys now have just enough time to get cleaned up. We have some of your father's friends coming, and yes they are bringing some of their daughters." Mom said to us while we walked up the steps. I think she was hoping this would rush us along. Instead I felt like I wanted to jump out a window. I don't think any of us cracked a smile, and for the first time in the history of being one of the Cullen Brothers, I had no interest in meeting a girl what-so-ever.

"Girls huh?" I asked Jasper and Edward.

"Man I am so not in the mood right now." Jasper muttered on the way to his room. Edward on the other hand just did a slow face palm, rubbed his face and then trudged to his room. I sighed, because I had a pretty good guess what was on their minds. It looked like we had a small mystery on our hands, and we wanted to solve it.


	5. Show and Tell

**Okay folks, the usual disclaimer: I don't any of the Twilight characters, they belong to one Stephanie Meyer.**

** I'm going to try and get the next chapter out tomorrow, but then I will be out of town for like 10 days, so after tomorrow, please don't expect anything until after the first of May. I hope you like this chapter, and thanks for all the great reviews!  
**

Show and Tell

Alice:

So we all met in the living room with our jewelry boxes, and I was eager to compare our pieces. We looked at each other and as if counting to three together, we opened our boxes at the same time. We started pulling out our jewelry and admiring the pieces. There were so many pearls that I thought I would die a happy woman. We all had pearls of all colors; cream, white, grey, blue, purple, pink, silver and black. There were large pearls, medium size pearls and small pearls. The shapes were never-ending; round, oval, button, keishi, baroque, biwa and off shaped pearls. There were even abalone pearls. There were the occasional diamonds, a few sapphires and rubies and several emeralds, but the majority of our jewelry was pearls. The settings consisted of some silver and white, yellow and pink gold, and the platinum seemed to never end. All these pearls and stones were set in necklaces, rings, earrings, barrettes, combs, anklets and chokers.

The majority of Rosalie's pearls were cream and pink, I had more blue and silver, and Bella had lots and lots of black pearls. I noticed we had all colors, but whoever put together out collections, clearly had favorites. I had to admit, I loved black pearls, and compared to Bella, Rosalie and I only had a small amount. Just when I thought we were finished,

"Oh my God, this tray lifts out!" Rosalie squealed in delight, the sharing continued. There was a small treasure in the living room and we had no idea how to deal with it. Uncle Charlie had come into the room unnoticed, I looked up and he was smiling at us.

"So what do you think?" He asked us.

"Where did we get all these pearls from?" Bella asked. She looked completely shocked at the display of extravagance.

"I think Rosalie can answer that. After all, your mother has told me all about your 'swimming' activities." All the color drained from Rose's face. Bella looked confused, but I was stunned. Before Rosalie could answer,

"You've been able to change? Since when?" I thought Rosalie would have told me about it at least.

"For the past eight years. I've learned to control it pretty well, its part of the reason I wanted to move here, to learn how to control it more." Rosalie had a faint blush across her face. Bella looked completely lost, my only guess was her mother never told her anything. Then again, Renee would only know what Charlie told her. Living in the desert must have suppressed some of her abilities.

"What are you guys talking about?" Bella finally asked. We all looked at Charlie. He looked a little uncomfortable, but instead asked Bella some questions.

"Bells, haven't you ever wondered why you wanted to move back to Forks?"

"Yeah, I was tired of Phoenix, I needed to be near the water." She answered.

"How badly have you felt that need?" Charlie asked. I could tell Bella was getting embarrassed, but she plowed ahead and answered the question.

"Well I noticed that my showers were getting longer and longer, and I was always at the local pool. Then I was just thirsty all the time and when it did rain, I would go out and stand in the rain."

"Has anything strange ever happened when you are near water during emotional stress?"

"Well I noticed that when I get angry the water pipes kept bursting in the house. But you told me that telekinetic abilities run in the family." Bella said.

"Well specifically with water. If an object contains water, it can be moved. There are also other talents specific to each person in the family. Like Alice can see the future, but you already knew that. Rose, show Bella and Alice what you can do. I will admit that her talent is rare with our kind, because it's almost like an oxymoron." We all looked at Rosalie and she held out her hand, palm up. The next thing I know there is a flame of red and orange burning bright in the middle of her palm. Bella's mouth fell open and I stood gaping.

"Dad is there something you're not telling me? Why can we do all these things? Alice, Rosalie, do you know what he's talking about?" I hated that it came to this, but I knew that I couldn't tell Bella, and neither could Rosalie.

"Bella, you have strong instincts, you have to figure it out. There is a book upstairs in you room, it has an old green cover. Read through it, and you should be able to figure out what you are. Unfortunately being away from water has delayed your development, but that will change, and sooner than you can expect." Charlie told her. I felt sorry for Bella, she looked genuinely confused and scared. I also felt jealous of Rosalie, I had only ever changed a handful of times, and I was almost caught by my father during one of those times. After almost being caught that one time, my mother told me I couldn't attempt again.

However Rosalie had clearly been practicing for a long time, and her father knew. It must have been great to live with that kind of freedom. I wonder what made her want to live here with us. Perhaps Uncle Charlie would help her gain more control. I personally thought if she controlled her temper more, she would accomplish a lot. Bella still looked lost. She slowly started putting her jewelry back in its box and headed upstairs. I went with her, because she looked like she could use some company.

"Alice, why can't dad just tell me?" She asked once I was in ear shot.

"We all had to discover on our own. Actually its better this way, then you can decide if this is what you want. My mother wanted it, but hid it from my father, Aunt Mary doesn't want it, and her husband knows what she is. It's a personal choice. Either way, you will have to keep the secret."

"Secrets are no problem for me to keep, but I wish all of you would stop keeping secrets from me." Bella sounded a little huffy, I couldn't blame her. We were all keeping secrets. This whole living arrangement was still so new, we had to get settled in first I think.

"Bella, you could have discovered this secret long ago. You could have discovered it during the summers you spent with Charlie. You can discover it now, but it has to be something you want to do. Just read the book your dad asked you to read and see if you can figure it out." I got up and went to my room. I needed to pick out an outfit for school. I had to admit I was nervous, and I felt foolish because I knew I was going to dress to impress the blond I saw in my vision. How can I try to impress someone that I don't know. The weather was getting more brisk, being September and all. I finally decided on a form fitting cream sweater with a pair of dark jeans and a low heel pair of boots. I went back down stairs to get my jewelry box and began to hunt through everything. I finally found some small creamy earrings and a cream bracelet with small pearls.

Having picked out my clothes for school, I put my backpack together with my new school supplies. I really liked school so I was excited about going to a new one. Bella and I were starting our Junior year and Rosalie was sitting pretty as a Senior. I thought about the blond boy and wondered if I would see him at all. I tried to rehearse what I would say, but the only thing I could see myself doing was running away. For some reason that boy made me especially nervous.

Rosalie:

"How much did mom tell you?" I had to know something. I was quickly learning that my Uncle Charlie is very trustworthy.

"She told me everything."

"Then you know I'm a murderer."

"Rosalie, with the way we are, you would have gotten revenge if he were successful. I'm not saying what you did was right, but I can't condemn you. You weren't the first to do something like this and you won't be the last. I'm just sorry that in your case, it ended this way. I know this won't be easy to live with, but you have to figure out how you are going to live with your decision. Do I consider you a murderer? No. Chances are those boys would have left you dead." Charlie then left to go to his room.

Royce's face flashed before my eyes. I had to admit that Charlie was right. What group of six young men would leave their rape victim alive to tell the tale? I guess I did have to strike first. Women were raped every day and were left alive, but the healing afterwards had to be difficult. I was willing to bet some were killed out of fear. I really had a lot to think about. I found that I had become a little nervous at the thought of school, especially if I ran into Emmett. I just wasn't ready to be with anyone, but Alice said he would continue to try. My mind was made up, no boyfriend senior year. I wanted to focus on school, get into a good university and then decide if I wanted a boyfriend. I didn't think this was unrealistic considering my past circumstances.

I walked upstairs and passed Bella's room. I wondered if she wanted any company, because she was clearly confused. I was surprised she didn't know. Did she think we had special abilities only, without understanding exactly what we are? I thought she knew. Then again, Renee wouldn't tell her, even if Charlie had wanted her to. Aunt Amaryllis told Alice everything, and Alice had to hide it from the Brandons. My dad knew everything, and my mom wanted nothing to do with who and what she was. I continued to walk to my room. I didn't want Bella to see me this way. I wasn't fully composed yet, and I wasn't ready to tell them I had killed six guys. I went to bed to be ready for school the next day.

"Ready to go?" I called into the kitchen. It was morning and Alice and Bella were finishing breakfast.

"Remember to come straight home Bella, you still have to pick out your car. I think your Uncle Lawrence would be disappointed if you didn't use his gift." Charlie reminded Bella. We walked out to the huge ten car garage behind the house. According to Charlie, our grandfather loved cars. Charlie kept his old red '53 pickup Chevy outside and just covered it with a tarp.

In the garage were our cars, Alice had picked out the BMW X6 xDrive50i. I got the Jaguar XK convertible.

"Alice, how did you get your dad to buy us cars?" Bella asked.

"He's still groveling, so I'm taking full advantage. I still think you should get the Audi that you like so much. Please don't feel bad Bella, he deserves it and daddy is loaded, it not like these cars would put a scratch on his wealth." Alice was very matter-of-fact when she talked about her father. Then again, if I were in her place, I would probably feel the same.

"The word is 'dent', Alice" I said.

"Believe me, scratch is the right word. Let me put it to you this way, if seven of the richest men in the world dropped dead now, daddy would officially be the richest man in the world." I think my eyes flew out of my head, I looked over at Bella and she just stared at Alice.

We got to school and parked. I think the guys were confused as to what to look at first, us or our cars. The cars seemed to be a good distraction, so we made a clean get away. My classes were actually enjoyable, a little easier than I expected, which was a relief. I didn't have to worry about keeping up with the curriculum here. I walked in the lunch room and I was glad that Alice and Bella were standing in line getting lunch. I rushed over to be with them, when this brown haired girl came up to us.

"Hi, I'm Jessica Stanley and this is Lauren Mallory. You should come over and eat at our table." This girl seemed very friendly, too friendly. I hated her on sight. I never trusted overly friendly girls, they almost always had an agenda. I smiled and we all trailed over to their table. One by one, other people started coming into the cafeteria. I didn't want to be obvious, but I had a sigh of relief when I realized that I hadn't seen Emmett all day. Suddenly,

"Look, here come the Cullen Brothers." Lauren said. I turned my head and had to stop myself from turning my head back to quickly. Emmett and another blond walked in. They were both so tall, and Emmett looked as hot as ever. Both had on tee shirts that were a little on the tight side, emphasizing every muscle, with jeans. Emmett's were dark, and the blonds looked more tattered and were black. Amazing what you noticed in a few second. I gazed at Alice and she had started to blush. So that was the blond. No wonder Alice was so flustered last night.

"The Cullen brothers are the most popular and the hottest guys in school. I wonder where Edward is, he's usually the first to arrive." Jessica was saying just as three boys walked over. They all looked like they were trying too hard. They introduced themselves; Tyler Crowley, who was clearly hung over, Mike Newton, who couldn't take his eyes off of Bella, and Eric Yorkie, who looked like he was trying to decide who to talk to first.

"What are you guys talking about?" Crowley asked.

"The Cullen brothers." Jessica answered, giggling.

"Stanley, you don't have a chance in hell with Edward, so just give it up. Newton is available, again." Crowley said loudly.

"So, who are the Cullens?' Alice asked quickly to get past the awkward moment.

"There's Emmett, the big tall one over there. He's totally into sports, Hockey, Baseball, Soccer. He's the Captain of all three teams and he's a straight A student, and did I mention gorgeous?" Lauren gushed. I felt a twinge of unreasonable jealousy, but squashed it. I mean I had only seen Emmett once, so why should I feel jealous that another girl is interested in him.

"Then there's Jasper. He's the strong silent type. He's on the Chess team, Soccer team and swim team, straight A student and surfer. He's the strangest out of the Cullens, but very sexy just the same."

Jessica explained, appearing to have gotten over her embarrassment.

"That leaves Edward, the intellectual. He's on the Track team, Baseball team and he writes music. He is also a straight A student and he's the most beautiful of the three." I noticed someone walking to their table, and I had to admit, the last Cullen boy was breathtaking, tall and well muscled like his brothers. Edward was wearing a long sleeved tee shirt with slightly worn khakis. The three were so different, Emmett was definitely bulkier, while Jasper and Edward were more on the slim side.

"So what classes are they in?" Alice asked, I noticed that Bella was very quiet.

"Well Emmett is a senior and the twins are juniors." Lauren answered.

"Jasper and Edward are twins? Talk about fraternal. They look nothing alike." I said. Some how, we had managed to muscle the guys out of our conversation.

"Are you girls going to spend the whole lunch period drooling over the Cullens?" Eric asked.

"Yes" Lauren and Jessica answered. Just then the bell sounded and lunch was over. I don't think the Cullens noticed us looking at them, which was a relief. I didn't want Emmett to think he had a chance. Everything was going fine, until my final class. It was American Literature, and I walked in. Just guess who was in my class. Yeah, Emmett Cullen. I made sure I sat on the other side of the room, and I didn't look in his direction. When the bell rang, I practically sprang from my desk and headed straight for the parking lot. Unfortunately, Emmett caught up to me.

Bella:

School was ok. I know that sounds really blah, but I really hate being the new kid. I was just glad that for once I wouldn't be alone. The other kids for the most part were very nice, they asked me lots of questions about what it was like being the chief's daughter. I didn't know what to tell them.

My classes were going by pretty quickly, I think because I was still thinking about everything that happened the night before. I didn't bother to read the book my father thought I should look at. I wasn't in the mood. The more I thought about last night, the more confused I became. Alice and Rosalie clearly knew what was going on and were on the same page. All this time I thought I knew what was going on, but I didn't. This frustrated me, because I usually didn't miss much, but this time it seemed there was a big black whole that never got filled.

Before I knew it, it was lunch time and I headed to the cafeteria. Two girls Jessica and Lauren invited us over to there table. I was relieved to find out I had lunch with Rose and Alice. Three other guys came over to talk to us. I felt terrible, because I really wasn't there. My mind was on last night. The guys, Mike, Eric and Tyler, were nice but that was about it. Then I heard someone say something about Emmett. I snapped to attention, and saw that everyone was looking at the table where Emmett sat with another boy.

"That's Jasper," was all I heard because the boy coming over to join then had caught my attention. He was beautiful. The next thing I know is that Alice and Rosalie are looking right at me, and then their gazes drifted back to the beautiful boy. Brownish-bronze hair, and green eyes, this had to be Edward. This was the one that is supposed to be interested in me, eventually.

It simply wasn't possible. I nibbled unconsciously on my lunch, allowing the conversation to flow around me. The bell sounded and I saw I was due to Biology next. Getting over to the science wing was tricky, but I finally made it with a minute to spare. I walked in and there was one empty seat left. And that seat was next to Edward Cullen.

I knew I had to look like I was walking to my death, but I was nervous. After seeing him, I couldn't quite believe Alice's vision that this boy would be interested in me. I sat down and looked straight ahead. There was already a lab assignment, flatworms. My teacher, Mr. Banner, passed out the flatworms. Edward slid one over to me. I whispered thanks and settled in to listen to the lecture. It was very hard to concentrate, what with Edward staring at me the entire time. I could feel my face was turning red, so I slowly turned to look at him, and he whispered "Hello".

I gave him a weak wave and turned to face the front of the class again. He continued to stare at me and I was truly becoming flustered. I turned to him and said in a quiet voice, "Could you please stop staring at me." He quickly lowered his eyes. I could tell he was embarrassed and I suddenly felt ashamed. I don't know if the see saw of emotions is what caused it, but suddenly five water pipes burst in the classroom. There was instant pandemonium, and Mr. Banner called for us to go outside the classroom and stand in the hall. The other girls in class were squealing about being wet, while all the guys seemed to think it was cool. Edward came quickly to my side.

"Are you ok? Do you need any help?"

"No thanks." I said, and I ran into the girl's bathroom. I stayed there until the end of class. When the bell rang, I peaked around the corner, and I saw Edward kind of loitering around. I really wanted him to leave before I left the girl's room, but he looked like he would be there for the duration. Just when I thought he would stay there forever, Jessica went up to him and started talking. Taking advantage of his distraction, I quickly dashed out the bathroom, down the hall and down the stairs. Just when I thought I was clear of the school, I heard foot steps.

"Bella wait." It was Edward, I knew before I turned around. I was so embarrassed, and even though I knew he didn't know I had did anything, I was still embarrassed just the same.

"Edward, please leave me alone, it's been a long day, I'm sure you can understand that." Before he replied, I walked away. I was thankful that Alice was already in the car. I got in the passenger seat straightaway, and Alice pulled off in a hurry.

"Running from Jasper?" I asked.

"No, making a strategic retreat." She answered, I just gave her a look.

"How did everything go today?'

"I burst some pipes in Biology."

"How?" Alice was now concerned.

"Edward Cullen is in my Biology class, and to make matters worse, he's my lab partner. Let's just say I felt like I was under a microscope. I was so nervous, and then the next thing I know, about five pipes burst. Water was everywhere. I spent the rest of the period in the girl's room."

Alice shook her head in sympathy.

"Did you even look at the book Charlie told you to read?"

"No, but I will tonight." We got home in record time, and dad was home early again.

"So, Bells, have you decided on a car?" My dad asked before I even reached the house.

"Yeah, I want an Audi Q5." My dad blinked. I knew he was surprised, but Uncle Lawrence said that price was no object, and Alice told me to get it. Two hours later, I was pulling in the drive with my new truck. This did make my day a little better, but I was still puzzled about last night.

I went in the house to do my homework, then we had dinner. We watched a little TV, and then I headed to my room. I picked up the book my dad told me to read, it was called 'Myths and Legends from Under the Sea'. I read and read, deep into the night, I felt myself falling asleep, and my last coherent thought was; "Dad is trying to tell me that I'm a mermaid."


	6. The Chess Player

** I don't own Twilight or its characters.**

**I hope you are all enjoying this story. Thanks for the reviews!  
**

The Chess Player

Jasper:

I washed and shaved for dinner, dreading the moment I had to go down stairs. All I could think about was the fact the Alice ran away from me. I put on a button down with a nice jacket and slacks and headed down stairs. Anytime Carlisle had a colleague over, mom insisted we dress up. I was about to slather on some cologne when I realized that I was not trying to impress any females showing up tonight. It was a first. My collection of cologne had grown, because when you overhear the comments girls have in reaction to smelling these colognes, you have to go out and buy them.

I'm not talking about the cheap "Axe" shit, I mean the nice stuff like Acqua di Gio, Black and Cool Water. I even heard a woman at the mall tell her friend that she didn't permit her husband to wear certain cologne out the house. I bought it immediately, and the results were gratifying.

I started to head downstairs when Emmett came flying up the stairs. He grabbed, shuffled me down the hallway into his room and slammed the door.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"The girls that mom said were coming with Carlisle's colleague?"

"Yeah?"

"Tanya, Kate and Irina. He's having Dr Bohannon over." Emmett looked as terrified as I felt.

"Shit! Does Edward know?" I asked.

"I haven't seen him come out of his room." Emmett said. Here's the short version, the summer before last, our parents rented a beach villa in Tahiti. Carlisle's friend Dr. Bohannon rented the beach villa next door. He had this sexy Russian wife and their sexy ass daughters. Let's just say the summer was very hot, very long and very sensual. Tanya got very very attached to Edward, Irina was hard to pry off of Emmett and Kate, well let's just say there were a lot of interesting secluded places that we visited all summer long.

That was then, this is now. We had never kept in touch with the girls, but I had a feeling things were going to get very interesting.

"We have to warn Edward." We walked out of Emmett room, only to find the Edward was on his way down stairs, and too far away for us to catch. We could only imagine his surprise, because we heard plenty.

"Oh Edward, it's so nice to see you again! We've been begging daddy for ages to bring us here for a visit." Tanya gushed. I would have paid money to see the look on Edward's face.

"Where are Emmett and Jasper?" Irina asked. I looked at Emmett and he closed his eyes in disbelief. I knew we had to go through with it, now that I had been requested by name. Mom would come up and make us go down stairs.

"I'm surprised they're not down here, they just love girls." As if things couldn't get worse, mom just sank out battleship.

"Look we're dressed up, we may as well get this over with." Emmett said. We slowly walked down the stairs and into the living room. As expected, Tanya had claimed a seat next to Edward, I could tell she was barely restraining herself. Irina and Kate's faces lit up like Christmas trees. Edward looked like he was in pain, we took our seats next to these girls and prepared for the rest of this torturous evening.

Emmett:

I would never have believed that the girls in question that were coming over this evening were ex-girlfriends. This day couldn't get any worse, so the night was turning out to be a total fuck-up. Irina could not keep her hands off me, and all I kept thinking about was; if this dinner were even a week earlier, I may not have cared. It was crazy, the one girl I wanted didn't want me, and the girl that I don't want, is practically pouring herself in my lap. It was so bad, that I wasn't even getting aroused. This was very telling, because I could tell Irina was still very talented.

I looked over at Jazz, the poor guy didn't know which way was up, and as for Edward, Tanya definitely had an agenda in mind.

"So how'd the school year start for you guys?" Dr Bohannon asked.

"Just fine, I'm excited about graduation, still trying to decide on which schools to apply." I answered, I was hoping this conversation would lead into something more lengthy. No such luck! Now when you want an adult to talk you to death, they don't follow through. Dr. Bohannon just nodded in admiration. Jasper proved to be the lucky bastard.

"How about a game of chess after dinner?" He asked Dr. Bohannon. Kate looked like she was ready to choke him, but he didn't even spare her a glance.

"Sure, that would be wonderful! I've heard you've done impressive things with the chess team over at Forks."

"Yes, I hope to continue when in college, I've been playing with some of the members of the Forks community league, so I've picked up a lot of pointers." I couldn't believe it. It looked like Jasper would be spared. Edward looked like he wanted to shoot Jasper. I swear it looked as if Tanya's gripped tightened on Edward's arm. Just when I thought we were sinking fast, mom called us in for dinner. I don't know how Edward managed it, but he was out of Tanya's grasp and sitting between mom and Dr. Bohannon at the dinner table and Tanya looked a little confused. As dinner progressed and the girls looked less and less excited, I thought we were in the clear when,

"So Jasper, do you have a girlfriend?" Kate asked with a sweet smile. I choked on my food and Edward was completely absorbed with his glass of apple juice. I couldn't wait to see how Jasper got out of this one. Carlisle and mom just chuckled and mom said,

"These guys never have girlfriends."

"Actually, I do, her name is Alice Brandon." This time both Edward and I choked. Mom looked up in surprise, but Carlisle looked like thunder. It was only there for a few seconds and then it was gone.

"Alice Brandon, she's a very nice girl Jasper." Carlisle said in a warning voice.

"Yeah she is, it all worked out because Emmett is going out with Rosalie and Edward is going out with Bella." I swear I saw Edward cross himself, close his eyes and mouth the words "no, no, no". I was completely stunned so I couldn't be sure of my reaction. Tanya, Irina and Kate looked hurt, and I wanted to kill Jasper. I didn't even venture a look at Carlisle face, because I already knew what he was thinking. He thought we had plans to boff Charlie's Angels.

"I didn't know you all had gotten to know them so quickly." Carlisle said in a mysterious voice.

"That's great, young men like you need girlfriends. I bet the girls are lined up outside for you three." This was Mrs. Bohannon, her daughters looked at her as if she were from another planet. Then the other shoe dropped.

"Dad, can we go out, you promised us that we could sit through dinner, and then we could leave right after." This was Kate, she looked infuriated, as did Tanya and Irina. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that they no longer wanted to be around us. But seriously, it's been about fifteen months, no phone calls either way, no text messaging, no emails, and then they appear out of the blue. What did they expect? Carlisle had this very interesting look on his face, as if he were putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

"Sure. Be back at home by twelve." Dr Bohannon still didn't have a clue as to what was going on. We avoided looking at Carlisle, although he didn't miss a chance to glare at us in turn. I knew that look, we were grounded.

Edward:

"You boys are grounded until further notice!" Carlisle had us lined up in his den. He didn't yell, he didn't have a tantrum, he just looked worn out.

"Come on Carlisle, what did we do?" This was Jasper of course, the main reason why we were grounded in the first place.

"It's because of the Bohannon girls. What happened in Tahiti?" I knew the color drained from my face.

"Well, I mean what do you want to know specifically?" Emmett ventured.

"Did any of you actually sleep with them?"

"I swear me and Tanya only fondled." I blurted out.

"Yeah, Kate and I didn't push that far." Jasper said. Emmett just looked guilty.

"You slept with Irina." It wasn't a question. Emmett nodded and stared at the floor.

"No wonder they looked so upset when you told them about your girlfriends. Speaking of which, I don't approve. Look at the manner in which you three handled the Bohannon girls. Poorly, immaturely, the list goes on. The Swan girls are very different, very special. If you handle them wrong, I can't be held accountable to what happens to you." Carlisle told us. I couldn't blame him, I mean they did live in Chief Swan's house, and Charlie's reputation as an excellent cop proceeded him. Carlisle then dismissed us.

We went up to our rooms to do homework and get ready for bed. I was knee deep in a Calculus problem that was designed to have my ass handed to me when my cell phone chirped. It was Jasper, he sent a text asking for me to come to his room. What did I have to lose, I was already grounded, its not like going to my brother's room could get me into anymore trouble.

When I got there, Emmett was already there. Jasper had one of his many chess boards on the bed with some pawns and knights and queens set at strategic positions.

"What's all this?" I asked.

"You want to solve the mystery of Charlie's Angels right?" Emmett and I nodded.

"Well the first thing we have to do is attack our opponent in a way that prevents them from escaping. From this moment on, we find out everything we can about Charlie's Angels. Where they are from, who are their parents, what their favorite colors are, anything that will get us a lead. Once we've compiled all the information, we go into attack." Jasper told us.

"How do we do that, they won't talk to us." Emmett said, still very sore over his humiliation with Rosalie.

"Ever heard of 'google'?" Jasper asked. I had to admit, Jasper's flair for being calculating and strategic had its high points. Jasper had actually toyed with the idea of joining the Navy after school. When he told mom, she promptly cried, he had to make other plans.

"Why don't we do this by assignment? We place Emmett on eavesdropping duty. No one will suspect you would listen to their conversation, I'll google, and Jasper you try to get your hands on their student records." I was suddenly excited. This should help us survive being grounded, but more importantly, this will help me solve the mystery of Bella Swan.


	7. Crash Course

** Ok, I know this chapter is a little short, but it was needed to explain somethings about Charlie's Angels.**

**As usual, I don't any of the characters of the Twilight series.  
**

Crash Course

Bella:

I woke up the next morning with my face buried in my book. I looked at it in curiosity. Mermaids. I wasn't quite sure what to think, but how am I to believe that I'm a mermaid, and clearly Alice and Rosalie are mermaids too. I would have never guessed in a million years. I was still confused, because there were things that didn't add up. For instance, I love the rain, standing in it, playing in it, I just love being in it. I had never turned into a mermaid then, or all the times I was in the shower or the public pool. Other than that, I had no idea what the other signs were. I needed to talk to dad.

I got out of bed, cleaned up and went to talk to my dad. I didn't get very far, because he left a note on the kitchen table saying he had gone fishing. Why I suddenly found this to be hysterically funny, I don't know. I knew I must have looked dejected, because I felt dejected. I went back up to my room and sat at my vanity. This was becoming a habit that I felt was slightly on the disturbing side, but I couldn't help myself. I sat there planning on combing my hair when there was a soft knock at the door.

"Come in." I said. Alice padded quietly over to my bed and made herself comfortable.

"Did you figure anything out?"

"Yes."

"So, what are we?"

"Mermaids" I felt ridiculous saying it out loud.

"What do you think?" Alice asked.

"I'm confused. Why have I never turned into a mermaid when I had contact with water?"

"Well, I'm guessing since you lived in the desert, it must have suppressed your natural powers. Plus the myths aren't entirely true. The more control you have over your powers, the more you can control when you change. However when near natural water resources, the change is virtually impossible to control." Alice explained.

"Okay, why is it I can burst water pipes?"

"Mermaids have the power to manipulate water. You must have an unusually strong gift in that area. Mermaids can also freeze and heat water, as well as have a certain control over weather."

"Ok, tell me what's true in the myths." I turned to look at Alice.

"Mermaids are very vain, which is why Charlie about us vanities. We can't help but have times when we just want to gaze upon our own reflections. The jewelry, it's typical with females, the difference between mermaids and human females, are that mermaids have easier access to the really nice jewelry. If not pearls, then booty from sunken ships. Singing is another talent, along with making homemade remedies. Then there are the special talents that some mermaids possess. As you saw Rosalie has the power to make and use fire, and I can see the future. I would like to know what my mother's special talent was, if she had one." Alice finished.

"I don't know if I would want to control the weather." I told Alice, it all sounded so frightening.

"You think that now, what until SATs." Alice smiled.

"There is something else I noticed in the myths, all the mermaids seemed to have rotten love lives."

"Yes, and most still do, but that's not true for all mermaids." Alice was saying when there was another knock at the door.

"Come in."

"Hey, so Bella, what do you think? Did you figure it out?" Rosalie asked while strolling into the room.

"I don't know yet, and yes."

"I love it, but mom hates it. I wish she didn't, because she could've taught me so much. From what she told me, it seemed as if I probably was not going to be a mermaid, because I was afraid of water when I was really little. Then when I confessed that I did turn one day, she told me I wasn't allowed to turn anymore. So I went and practiced by myself." Rosalie told us. It became a little clearer as to why she wanted to live here with us, however I did get the feeling that she was not quite telling us the whole story.

"I wonder why my mom didn't tell me, because now looking back, I know she knew."

"Maybe your mom just wanted to keep you." Alice said

"I guess"

"Hey look, don't be too hard on her, besides its Saturday, and there is one thing we have to do before we do anything else." Rosalie said

"What's that?"

"We need to give you a crash course on being a mermaid." So that's how everything started. Rosalie started with our family history. Supposedly there was a sailor by the name of Swan, that spotted my great great great grandmother, they married and had all sons, it was arranged that these sons all marry mermaids, and that's pretty much how it's been since.

Once family history was covered then Rosalie and Alice went on to test my powers. So far telekinetics and water manipulation seemed to be all I had. Rosalie assured me the rest would come later.

Next they tested my singing voice, to my surprise and theirs, my voice was decent.

"If you keep practicing, it will be very good." Alice told me. The next was what Alice referred to as "still room" activities. In other words making home remedies. I must have looked skeptical, but Alice told me this was normal.

"Besides, no one in the family does it anymore, so if we do it, we will be self taught. However mom did tell me grandmother Swan had a recipe book some where, we just need to find it."

Rosalie had some flashcard of sea creatures. "When I find some more, I will give them to you, until then get to know these very well, we will be quizzing you."

I didn't realize being a mermaid was such hard work. Then again they have been doing it longer than me, so I guess it would be normal for me to be overwhelmed. Then to top it all off, Alice handed me a homemade leather bond book.

"These are the rules we live by while on land. Nowadays, its not unusual for a mermaid to live almost totally on land, especially if she is part human. So that's why we have rules. We'll take you out and see how well you change in a month's time. I think we should get it over with before it gets too cold. Plus the first time is a little scary, after changing, be warned, your powers will automatically increase in strength."

"And," Rosalie added, "You have to control your emotions after changing, interesting things have been know to happen."

"I do have one question, Alice was in the middle of answering and then you came in Rosalie. Why do mermaids have horrible love lives?" I had to know. Rosalie thought for a moment before answering. The emotions flitting across her face were a mystery.

"Because the mermaid is always forced to choose between something she cares for a great deal and a man, and when the man doesn't follow through on his end of the bargain, it can destroy her."

This was definitely more than I bargained for.


	8. Information

** OK kids, this time I'm really leaving town. I'll tell you that story later, in the mean time enjoy this new chapter.**

** The disclaimer: I don't own anything from the Twilight Universe.  
**

Information

Edward:

We spent the weekend googling all the information we could about the Swans. We did find a few interesting items, for instance Rosalie was connected to a boy in Rochester New York that had drowned with five of his friends.

"Emmett, that could be why she didn't want you to touch her. She could still be upset about the situation. Maybe he was her friend, or boyfriend." Jasper said. I agreed, which would make sense. Death is not something that is easy to deal with for anyone, Emmett was rather quiet for the remainder of the day after reading that article. We did find out that Rosalie's dad was involved in banking and that his wife, Mary was originally from Forks, Washington. I scribbled all this information down in our notebook, which we called, "The Journal". No need to arouse any more suspicion than we already have.

Next we looked up Alice, and we found out that her family is loaded. When I say loaded, I mean loaded. We also found out her mother, Amaryllis, recently died.

"That must have been why Charlie left town for a few days, he had to go to his sister's funeral. I wonder why Alice came back with him?" Jasper asked. I would think a girl would want to stay with her father after her mother died, unless she just wanted to get away for a while. I wrote this information in the notebook, realizing we had to links to Forks, so that left Bella.

Nothing came up. I was greatly frustrated. I wrote down what I knew about Bella, but past her dad being the police chief and that her mother moved her to Phoenix, I was at a loss.

"I wonder if we could go to the library and look up information about the Swans, since it seems the family has their roots here." I suggested, Jasper and Emmett liked the idea, so here we were on a Saturday afternoon heading to the library.

"Where do you three, think you are going?" Carlisle asked.

"To the Library." Emmett answered. Carlisle looked incredulous.

"Seriously!" Jasper added.

"If it were just Edward I would believe it, but all of you? Well never mind, I know what time the library closes on Saturday, if you are not home by 7 pm, you three will be ground for the remainder of the school year." We couldn't believe what we were hearing. It was clear that Carlisle was still very upset with us and our behavior. I didn't want to admit that I couldn't blame him, so we wisely said nothing and headed out the door.

The library proved to be very useful, there were tons of microfilm and old bound volumes of newspapers that told all about the history of Forks and some of its first citizens like, the Swan family. One common thread throughout that history was that the Swans loved to fish. The first Swan was a sailor and he had an exotically beautiful wife. No one really knew where this woman had come from, but she passed on her beauty to the woman in the family. This could explain why the girls were so breathtaking, each one had a different type of beauty.

"So what have we learned so far?" Jasper asked.

"Well their family is definitely rooted here in Forks, and Rosalie and Alice have some serious issues they are working out. We just don't know what exactly. Bella still remains a mystery." I said.

"Isn't Bella's mom form Forks?" Emmett asked.

"I think she is, I know how mom is always talking about how the chief married young and then divorced and his wife moved away. I wish I knew her name." I answered. The library was closing shortly, and I had to say that overall, we did find out quite a bit of information, but I think we all thirsted for more. The more we found out, the more we realized that these girls weren't typical at all. I Think it was because they were now more mysterious than ever, and I didn't know about Emmett or Jasper, but I liked that there was some mystery to Bella. With other girls, it seemed as if everything was there, out in the open to read, but this girl was a total puzzled.

We went home with printed sheets and Xerox copies of everything we could get our hands on. Carlisle and mom saw all the books and paperwork and looked quizzically at us and Emmett had the best reply,

"We're working on extra credit projects." He was telling the truth in a sick twisted way. We were heading up the stairs, but stopped in the den on the landing to sort out our materials.

"Well we got a lot done, but remember Jasper, come Monday morning, we need you to try and get their school records." Emmett said heading off to his room. I went to my room in deep thought, but not before I noticed that Carlisle and mom were in a huddle. We were being way too conspicuous, even for us. We would need a diversion.

Emmett:

I decided I would just take a drive around town, I had a lot on my mind. When I asked if I could go, mom and Carlisle looked skeptical, but I promised that's all I was doing, was driving. They seemed okay with that and so I headed out.

Why would Rosalie leave her parents behind and come to Forks? Was it really because she lost her boyfriend? Could that have been the reason she freaked out that day and slapped me? Was it all too soon after everything was said and done? I needed to know the answers to these questions.

I also was battling a guilty conscious over how things went with Irina. I really did like Irina, but now faced with the aftermath of everything, I shouldn't have slept with her. Its weird because contrary to popular belief about guys and always wanting to have sex, there was more to it than that. Yes we always want to get laid, unfortunately we hate to admit to ourselves that we feel guilty and even a little tawdry and dirty after sleeping with a girl we don't really like. Yes, we can feel cheap and even a little self-disgust over doing things like this. But who wants to admit that out loud? You know those guys that don't sleep around, and because of that, people think they're gay? Those guys don't sleep around because they have self respect.

Then of course Carlisle's words that other night, I just didn't want to think about it. And then Irina, what am I supposed to say to her? Sorry I had sex with you? That just would've been insult to injury. This is a time when military silence is best, especially considering I don't see her and her family except once in a blue moon. If she thinks I'm a totally asshole, I really couldn't blame her.

So I find myself turning down Chief Swan's street, and then past his house. No one seemed to be at home. Oh well. I headed over to the Newton's camping and supply store. I looked around, bought a new parka for winter and then headed home. I started to think about what I would need to do on Monday. Which people would I have to single out to listen to in order to find out about Rosalie.

The thought of her makes me feel different. I wonder if this is what love at first sight is like. I wasn't sure, but I knew the way I felt about her was different than the way I've felt about other girls.

Jasper:

"Good morning Jasper" Mrs. Cope said as I walked into the office.

"What projects do you have for me today?" I asked. I helped out in the office three days a week. What can I say? It looks good on my college apps that I would volunteer my time in some way. I never thought in a million years that this, often irritating and boring volunteer assignment would help me get a girlfriend.

Alice Brandon. I needed to get my hands on her files! Oh, and Bella and Rosalie.

"Here's some shredding and if you could just keep an eye on things while I attend this staff meeting, that would be so helpful." Mrs. Cope said. I had a genuine smile on my face for once, because I was going to be left alone in the office! I just needed to find the key to the file cabinets. As dizzy as Mrs. Cope is, she is very careful about leaving her volunteers alone with the student records.

Leaving me with the records was never tempting because I'm a straight A student, as far as the other volunteers, I honestly couldn't tell you. Once I heard Mrs. Cope head down the short hallway, and the door closed, I quickly began to peel the office apart looking for the keys. It didn't take me long, Mrs. Cope isn't that hard to figure out, so I found the key easy enough. I made sure I shredded enough to be convincing, but all the while I quickly searched for the three files. I found them and copied them. I don't know how many city, state and federal laws I broke, but I needed to get my hands on this info. I felt kind of creepy, but I squelched the feeling. This was war, and I wanted to win.


	9. La Push

**Alright gang. Sorry about the delay in the update. Being jetlagged really sucks.**

**Any, the usual disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or the story of the Twilight Saga**

**I hope you enjoy this update, there will be one soon after this one.  
**

La Push

Alice:

I think I wanted to slap Bella as hard as I possibly could.

"I don't swim at the beach, not such a good idea." Bella said.

"What part of mermaid don't you understand?" Rosalie hissed, I think she would have yelled if we weren't talking about mermaids. There weren't any people around visibly, but who's to say no one was around.

"Bella, you have to change at some point."

"You said a month!"

"I lied!" Rosalie yelled that time.

"Bella, look, it was me that decided to do this now. We really need you to get control of yourself. I don't think you realize the reason you have been so crazy since you arrived is because you have been itching to change." I said.

"We'll be with you." Rose said in a quiet voice. Bella didn't say anything, but just looked as if she were still trying to make up her mind. I wasn't quite sure what had her nervous, but I knew I wanted to support her.

Plus I was out of the house and away from any phone lines. My father had been trying to call me lately, I still had nothing to say to him. I had a feeling he was about to announce his nuptials to the high society money grabbing tramp that he had been with. I wasn't going to the wedding, I didn't care how many bribes my dad tried.

"Bella, I was scared the first time too, but it's better to practice now, especially when you have people to help." Bella didn't say anything after that, she just started stripping down to her tee shirt.

Bella:

I couldn't believe that I was actually getting into open water. I'd been to the beach before, it was a rarity, but I wasn't faced with this situation before either. Alice and Rosalie wordlessly started stripping down to their tee shirts. It felt so strange being on a public beach, in a tee shirt, knowing I was naked underneath. Yeah, that's right. I was full commando under my shirt.

"Ok. Let's just get this over with."

"You're ready?" Alice looked so hopeful

"NO. But you two have left me little choice." I slowly walked into the water, when both Alice and Rose grabbed my hands and hauled me full speed into the water. Did I mention the waves and swells that were coming in? The next thing I know, a wave comes crashing down on all three of us, and I'm separated from Rose and Alice. I panic, trying to get my bearings, and I'm trying to figure out which way is up. I try to kick my legs, but they wouldn't move. I panicked even more trying to kick and thinking about how I would have to surface for air soon, when I realized that there was no burning sensation from not having any air. I was suddenly very still and I was very deep underwater. Everything was peaceful, quiet and it was a little eerie. I looked up and I could see the slow motion of the water, and I looked down and saw blue black depths. And a tail… My tail.

Rosalie:

"She doesn't look too good Alice." I said, I knew the color on my face was gone.

"If she doesn't come around, we'll have to call Charlie." Alice said in a scared voice. This whole outing didn't go as planned. Leave it to Bella to faint underwater after seeing her tail.

"I guess you're right. I don't know how Charlie is going to feel about this."

"I don't think he'll be upset, I mean this is the first time she's changed. All this has been a huge shock for her." Alice said

"True." Suddenly Bella coughed and stirred a little, we quickly wrapped a blanket around her.

"Bella! Are you okay?! How are you feeling?" Alice asked, the typical mother hen.

"I have a tail." Was all Bella said.

"This isn't good." I said, she was showing signs of shock. I quickly got her a soda and forced her to guzzle some of it down. Her dark hair was plastered to the sides of her face and she was shivering slightly.

"Come, let's get you up and back to the truck." I said, and I was happy that Bella opted to purchase an SUV for her vehicle, with everything going on, we were going to need it. Alice and I helped Bella walk to her truck and hustled her inside. Alice turned on the truck and blasted the heat. I wrapped another blanket around Bella and encouraged her to speak.

"I have a tail and I was breathing underwater." Bella said, this time she sounded more like herself.

"Yes, and what else?" I asked.

"I don't remember, everything sort of went black."

"Well you've survived your first transformation. We'll have to come back next weekend. We need to find a place where no one will see us, in order for you to practice more freely." Alice said cheerfully.

"Leave it to you to faint your first time out." I said a little harshly, but I was just so happy that Bella was seriously shocked. I don't know how we would've got past that for future sessions.

"We really have to be careful, the reservation isn't far from this beach. We don't know how much the Quielutes know, and I don't want to find out either." Alice had a point, we needed to be careful. Alice pulled off towards home and Bella was very quiet still.

"Are you willing to try again Bells?" I asked.

"I don't have a choice, I need to learn to control my powers."

"Did you hate it so much?" Alice asked sadly. There was a long pause.

"No, I'm just having a hard time dealing at the moment. My tail didn't look at all like I expected. I thought I would look like a big gold fish."

"Yeah, "Splash" this is not." I chuckled. Her sense of humor was coming back, that was a good sign.

"So what did you think, before you blacked out?" Alice asked.

"I'm not quite sure, I know it was all very quiet, and a little eerie. I want to know, how in the world do we breathe underwater?" I glanced at Alice through the rear view mirror and she glanced back.

"Here, let me show you." I pulled my hair back to expose my ear, I folded the pinna down to expose what appeared to be a very thin cut, in the shape of a curve following the line of my outer ear.

"Do you see that cut?" I asked.

"Yeah, what happened?"

"Nothing happened, that's one of my gills. When it gets wet, it expands." I explained. "That's why we can breath underwater."

I don't know exactly what Bella thought, but the look on her face was indescribable.

"We have school tomorrow, try and keep a low profile in Biology, this school is small and doesn't have very many science labs to begin with. No more pipe bursting." I said to distract her.

"Do we all have the same tails?" Bella asked.

"No. Each mermaid has a different tail. There were even a few mermaids in the family that had split tales. Some are scalier then others, some have a more dolphin like tail, it just depends upon genetics, pretty much like every other living thing." Alice answered.

"What do your tails look like?"

"You'll find out when we go back to practice." I answered. Bella looked like she wanted to sulk, but was then silent. The ride home was quiet and we still had a lot of ground to cover.


	10. Execution

Execution

Emmett:

Now that the plan was in full swing, we were rather excited. I had picked up a few things by eavesdropping and no one suspected that that's what I was doing. I was impatient for lunch because I wanted to know if Jazz was able to get their school records. If so, we could find out what schools they attended, and exactly where they lived previously. I studiously avoided Rosalie, which wasn't hard, because she avoided me as well. I didn't want to admit that this only attracted me more, finally a woman that was a true challenge. The bell sounded and I had to restrain myself from running full on to the cafeteria, I didn't have to worry about looking so eager, Jazz and Edward were already there.

"Houston, we have a problem." Jasper said as soon as I was in ear shot.

"What now?"

"Just look at their table." Edward said. I didn't have to question who or what he was talking about. I looked at the table where Charlie's Angels sat, and there was another addition: Angela Webber.

"Shit!" I said.

"Exactly. So what do we do now, we're toast. If we thought we had problems before, we have issues now." Edward said. This just couldn't be happening, we couldn't catch a break! All it will take is one lunch period with Angela to kill any and all hope. When Angela finished ripping our characters to shreds, we'll be doing fine if the Swan girls even notice us after today.

Angela:

"Hi, I'm Angela, nice to meet you three." I hoped that my nerves didn't show. I enjoy meeting new people, but it sucks being really shy. I don't know if anyone has had a chance to talk to them about Forks High.

"So, do any of you need a tour of the school?"

"Actually that would be really nice, I'm still getting lost." Bella blushed when she spoke. I was a little relieved, it was nice to know that I wasn't the only one that felt self-conscious.

"Hey Angela, could you tell us what you know about the Cullens?" This was Alice.

"Yes, what would you like to know?" I didn't want to be a total kill joy, but there was only one word to describe the three bothers; playboys.

"What're they like, I mean they really stand out."

"If I were you, I would watch myself around the Cullens. Those three have dated more than half the girls here in school. They get bored really easily, and even though they are nice to a degree, they still leave a bad reputation with all the girls they are involved with."

"What do you mean exactly?" Rosalie looked upset, extremely beautiful, but upset.

"The Cullens are all about the thrill of the chase. Once they've attained their object of desire, then the thrill is gone. I think the actual chase is usually longer then their relationships." I didn't want to be harsh, but it was true. Lauren and Jessica are the only girls they won't touch.

"I see." Bella whispered, I then watched as she glanced over at their table. I looked over as well, expecting to see them watching Alice, Bella and Rosalie. Considering that the girls are new, it wouldn't shock me to see if they'd stare at them. However they weren't staring at them, they were in what looked like a football huddle. Odd.

"What are they doing?" Alice asked, she turned to look at me, all questioningly.

"I haven't a clue, they usually spend lunch either talking to or staring at girls. I've never seen them huddled together like…" I stopped myself. They were up to something and I just didn't want to even voice my opinions on it.

"Huddled together like what?" This was Rosalie again, Bella was still very quiet.

"Like, I don't know, I just couldn't think of anything." I said with a small smile. Rosalie seemed to buy it, thank goodness. I had a feeling they were out to try and pursue the Swan girls. Well they were warned, if they wanted to date them, then so be it.

"Well as long as they don't come near me, then I don't give a rat's ass what they do." I was completely shocked at Rosalie's statement.

"Yeah, I guess your right Rose, but I still think things will play out the same." I had no idea what Alice was talking about.

"I think if we keep running, we just intrigue them more. So let's try and be as normal as possible around them." Bella was someone I think I was beginning to like more and more.

"What're you guys talking about?" I had to know.

"Emmett was trying to come on to me the first day we started, I slapped him across the face and he hasn't bothered me since." I was stunned speechless. Most girls wanted to caress and kiss Emmett, not slap him.

"Wow! I don't think any girl has ever hit Emmett before."

"I still think it was unnecessary to hit him Rose." Alice said reproachfully.

"Well you ran from Jasper."

"Yeah but I didn't hit him."

"Wait, back up. You actually ran away from Jasper Cullen?" This was unreal.

"Yeah and Bella ran from Edward." Alice finished. I was all astonishment. In the history of the Cullen brothers and Forks High, I had never heard of such a thing.

"I guess there was no reason to tell you about the Cullens, you three have everything under control." Then we all glanced up at the Cullen table again. It was empty.

"Now where did they go?" Alice asked.

"I have no idea… They usually stay the entire lunch period. I have to admit, they're being unusual even for them." I was honestly mystified, well it didn't matter, I gave them a wide birth. Soon lunch was over, and Bella and I discovered that we had Trig together.

Jasper:

Okay, so Angela totally fucked us over, I can accept that, but since the Angels don't seem too taken with us anyway, I didn't have much to lose, right?

Who was I kidding, I wanted Alice, especially after seeing she's a straight A student and went to a very prestigious prep school somewhere near Biloxi. I had an exact address and I wonder if Carlisle would notice if I wanted to suddenly go visit a city I had no connection to. Emmett, Edward and I came to the conclusion to appear to be disinterested. We still had loads of information to go through, and still our questions were unanswered. My number one question of course was why the Angels decided to move in with Charlie. I could understand Bella, but Alice and Rosalie, why would they move so far from home.

I was on my way to Calculus and I saw Alice in the hallway, it took everything in me not to stare at her, and especially not to go over and say hello. I just watched her out the corner of my eye, and I noticed again that she looked at me, almost staring at me and she blushed, a deep crimson. Then she looked away and headed toward her next class. I didn't get it, this girl had made it very clear that she doesn't want me, so why stare at me and blush? I was very confused and I hoped that Emmett and Edward were doing better than me at the moment. I suddenly felt like the one guy at school that can't get a date.

Edward:

It was that time of day again, you know, Biology class. Chinese water torture, the rack, the thumb press, none of it compared to sitting next to Bella Swan in Biology. She was very quiet, soft spoken, and shy. And she didn't want any parts of me, and for the first time ever, Angela Webber had nothing to do with it. She didn't want me, even before she met Angela, and that was saying something. Where did I go wrong!?!? I took a peek at the records Jasper gave me. Bella was a straight A student, attended public school in Phoenix and seemed to keep to herself. I had her old address, but what good was that? I heard from Emmett that her mother no longer lived in Phoenix, and was with her new husband in Florida. So there was no point in investigating Phoenix, and now here we were in Biology, and we had a project together. We had to put slides in various stages of mitosis in order, the work would be easy, but talking to this girl would be hard.

"Would you like to start?" I asked, hoping my smile was friendly. Bella looked at me, smiled at me timidly and then proceeded to put all the slides in order in about ten minutes. So much for conversation. Since our assignment was complete, I decided to try another approach at conversation.

"It's raining again." I couldn't believe that I just said that.

"Well we are in Washington state, what else did you expect?" Was I really trying this hard?!

"So, why did you come to Forks?" I figured being friendly wasn't cutting it, so the direct approach was more my speed.

"I wanted to be with my dad."

"That simple, huh?"

Yeah, I missed him."

"Where did you live before?" I knew the answers to the questions I wanted to ask, but I figured since she was willing to talk, I wanted to keep things going.

"Phoenix." She said, and she made a face of pure dislike.

"Was it that bad?" I asked, I could feel myself smiling.

"It was too hot, and dry. I'm not a big fan of the cold, but I do love the rain, this more than makes up for the heat in Phoenix." Her eyes seemed to sparkle. I had never heard of anyone loving Forks before.

"Any special reason why you love the rain?" This girl had me completely curious. I turned to look at her, waiting for her answer, but I was met with a strange look.

"How do you mean?" Was it me or was her tone just a bit defensive.

"Nothing special, I was just wondering if you connected the rain with a pleasant memory or something." She seemed to relax a bit, but not completely. Something had set her off, and I'm not sure why.

"Well I just love the water, it reminds me of when I was very little, and living in Forks."

"You used to live in Forks?" I asked. I knew I sounded incredulous, but this was a blip that didn't come up on the radar, "So why did you move away?"

"My parents split up, and mom decided she wanted me to live with her in Phoenix. I just put up living in Phoenix because of mom, she kind of needs a caretaker."

Just when the conversation was getting good, the bell rang, and class was over, I turned my back to grab my backpack, and when I looked back Bella was exiting the classroom. I didn't see her for the rest of the day, but I couldn't stop thinking about her, and I couldn't stop thinking about how she overacted to my question about loving the rain.

Jasper:

"Well our plan is in the execution phase, did you guy find out anything today?" I asked when we got home. We were in the kitchen and talking freely because both parents were not home yet.

"Well this may be a small thing, but did you know Bella used to live in Forks? Plus I asked her a simple question, and it kind of set her off." Edward looked confused, but managed to calmly stuff an entire twinkie in his mouth.

"What did you ask her?" this was Emmett, he was munching on sunflower seeds and raisins.

"I asked her why she loved the rain. She had mentioned that she loved it, and I asked why, and she kind of got defensive." Emmett and I looked at each other.

"Why would anyone get defensive over such an innocent question?" Emmett asked, holding a handful of the sunflower seeds and raisins combo.

"That's what I'd like to know." Edward said before downing a glass of milk in two gulps.

"Maybe you two are overacting about her response." I said.

"I don't think so, you didn't see her face. I could tell she was still one edge after that, and then she just disappeared after class. I didn't even see her get up to leave."

"Then we should investigate all things dealing with Charlie's Angels. Do you have any idea what they do outside of school?"

"Not a clue. We're going to need some outside help." Emmett was saying just as mom walked in.

"Outside help for what?" Mom asked, she was trying to look nonchalant and failing utterly.

"For major car repairs, I found a few heaps of junk that I want to fix up. I think they are Chevy Pickups from the late 1950's. I'll need some outside help in identifying exactly what the trucks are, and how much I could sell them for when the repairs are finished." Emmett said quickly.

"Edward and Jasper are willing to help?" Mom was suspicious.

"Yes" we both cried at once. One thin blond delicate eyebrow went up.

"Mom we are grounded after all, this will help us get through it." Edward said saving the day.

"Alright, just stay out of trouble." She walked out of the kitchen.

"We need to get back upstairs to our rooms, she won't leave us alone for a second." I whispered. The three of us headed to Emmett's room to continue our war council.

"So, what do you suggest we do?" I asked.

"Well Jessica would be a great ally if Edward would go out on a date with her." Emmett looked over at Edward.

"Not an option. Next idea." Edward wasn't going for it.

"Actually Emmett's idea has merit, she's such a mindless gossip, you probably could get loads of information from her." I suggested.

"NO!"

"Well if Edward won't talk to Jessica, then that means Emmett can pump Lauren for information." The sunflower seed mixture that Emmett was chewing on, was now choking him.

"Hell no!" Emmett said, his eyes watering.

"What other choices do we have!?!" I asked. All was silent and then,

"Fine. I'll Jessica out." Edward was sacrificing himself for the greater good, but there was more.

"Only if Emmett asks Lauren out."

"Fine." Emmett was not pleased. We walked out of Emmett's room leaving him to his thoughts.

"Jasper, if I don't end up with Bella when all is said and done, I will do everything in my power to ruin things for you and Alice." Edward then marched to his room. I knew he was pissed to cockblock his own brother, but something was telling me that things would turn out fine.


	11. Quileutes

**OK kids here's the new chapter. Sorry about the last one, I forgot to put the disclaimer in.**

**I don't own any of the characters or story from the world of Twilight by Stephanie Meyer.**

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Quileutes

Bella:

"La Push beach this weekend, you girls in?" This was Eric Yorkie. He was one of the boys at school trying to get me to date him, you know the sort, kind of nerdy, a little pimply. He seemed nice, but was this really the best I could do? I may as well be back in Phoenix.

"What's going on at La Push?" Rosalie asked.

"A party with some of the kids from the rez." Lauren answered in a giggly voice. It seemed a little forced. I didn't care for this girl very much, but it didn't matter, I don't think she cares for me either.

"Maybe not this time." I answered, but Rosalie had other ideas.

"No, I think we'll go, what time, where and should we bring anything?" She asked, while Alice and I looked at each other dumbfounded.

"Excellent! There's some surfing if that's your thing. We plan to barbeque and make s'mores by the bonfire." Eric was so excited.

"Why a bonfire?" this was Alice.

"You'll see when see when we get there." Tyler said speaking up.

"Can we bring dates?" Jessica asked, I couldn't help but notice that she kept glancing over at the Cullen's table.

"Sure, why not." Mike answered staring at me and I pretended to be interested in my cheese pizza. Mike was just about to ask me out when the bell sounded and everyone was confused because lunch wasn't nearly over. I glanced at Rosalie and she winked. Great, I sped out of the cafeteria before Mike could notice I was gone. As I rushed out of the cafeteria, I couldn't help but notice the Cullens looking at me. It amazed me how blank their expressions could be, I honestly had no idea what was going on in their heads.

I spent the rest of the lunch period hiding in the library, because I knew Mike would never follow me here. I think Mike was allergic to books, which served my purpose just fine. I grabbed a few classics to sort of breeze through just to kill time. I would need it before facing Edward Cullen in Biology.

Alice:

"I know you think going to La Push will help Bella, but what if our secret comes out. She hasn't learned to control her powers enough. As soon as she smells the water, she'll want to change, especially after she's already had one successful change." I said to Rosalie. We were in a private corner of school having a heated discussion about the party at La Push. Rose felt that we should go, I disagreed.

"Look, I suggest we go early, let Bella get wet and change, then dry off and go to the party. I think Bella has more self control then we think."

"Okay, but we have to be careful. I think we should talk to Charlie about going to the rez, I mean I think the Quileutes know about the mermaids."

"Alright Alice, spill. What did you see." It was a statement.

"The Quileutes know we're mermaids" Rose looked angry and exasperated all at once.

"How long have they known?"

"Since our great great grandmother saved one of the Black men of the Quileutes. Everything got lost in the records, but she saved him and he told anyone that would listen about the lady fish that saved him. The tribe just thought it was one of his stories for years, until Ephraim Black was born and our grandmother ended up saving him during a terrible storm on the water. Then your mother saved Billy Black, unfortunately she wasn't able to keep him from getting hurt." I was saved by the bell.

"Off to class!"

"Wait Alice, what happened?"

"Ask your mother." I couldn't tell Rosalie this one, she had to have this out with her mom.

I was heading to class when I saw Lauren Mallory ask Emmett Cullen to the party, I was amazed to hear him say yes. With all my insight to the future, I didn't see this coming. What a strange turn of events! I quickly rushed to the nurse's office, and faked a headache. There were a few cots and I was offered one to lie down on, I needed some time to see my visions. I saw Rosalie still ended up with Emmett, the vision was stronger than the previous ones. I didn't get that, especially since Emmett just agreed to go out with Lauren. I searched my own vision and saw that I would still end up with Jasper, I guess no matter how hard I tried, I wasn't going to be able to hold him off forever. I just couldn't see how we would hook up. Then I searched Bella's future and again, she would still be with Edward, it was solidified.

I soon found that I fell asleep, because the nurse gently shook me awake after the last bell. I met Rosalie and Bella by our cars, and before I could say anything, I noticed Lauren was talking to Emmett by his Jeep, I glanced over at Rosalie and was shocked. Her face was sheet white with anger and dare I say jealousy.

"I thought you didn't like Emmett?" I asked confused.

"You don't know anything!" she hissed, Bella just shrugged. We then went to our cars to go home, but not before we watched Rosalie glare at Emmett and then fly out of the parking lot. I don't think he even noticed her.

Bella:

I had to admit, I was a little sorry for Rosalie. It was obvious she liked Emmett from the beginning, but she wasn't ready for a relationship. It sure didn't take Emmett much time to land on another girl. If it weren't for his reputation, then I would have been surprised at his choice. Seriously, Lauren Mallory?! I didn't think he had it in him. I watched as Rosalie peeled out of the parking lot, and I watched Lauren squeal in delight over having a date with Emmett Cullen. I'd like to see Edward try something like that! Okay, that was weird. I'll just push that thought away to be examined later.

"Bella?" Alice said, waving a hand in front of my face.

"What?" I was startled to see Alice staring at me strangely.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be alright?"

"You didn't see the look on your face. Why are you upset with Emmett? Rosalie blew her chance, she slapped his face." Alice said giggling.

"I thought you said that they would end up together?" I was confused.

"Well at the moment they aren't going to get together, and its fun to see Rosalie's feathers ruffled, it's good for her. Besides, I hate to sound so shallow, but what is Lauren to Rosalie?"

"I think I understand what you mean. So when are you going to give Jasper a chance to talk to you?" I had to get Alice's attention off Rosalie, because sooner or later that attention would turn to me, and I didn't want Alice picking my brain like a psychotherapist.

"I don't know, but something has already happened to solidify all the visions I have seen about us. You will be with Edward, I will be with Jasper and Rosalie will be with Emmett. It's stronger than ever now, and I can't even tell you why or how, but there have been some decisions made in order for it to be this sure."

"Alice, guys like Edward Cullen don't date girls like me." Oh man, I think I just said too much. I saw Alice's head turn in slow motion toward me. She had a very interesting look on her face.

"Bella, don't tell me you like Edward."

"I never said that, I said guys like him don't date girls like me. Guys like Edward date girls with double D tits and an IQ of 65, they don't date girls that wear their father's plaid hunting jacket to school, or girls that trip over imaginary cracks in the sidewalk."

"Don't be too quick to judge people, they will and often surprise you.'

"Plus I don't want a boyfriend." Alice just rolled her eyes at this statement. We were just about to get in our cars when Edward walked out into the parking lot. He seemed to be in a hurry, he was almost to his Volvo when;

"Hey Edward, wait up!" This was Jessica Stanley, I really didn't like this girl.

"Yes." Edward said politely.

"So, there's this party at La Push beach, and I sort of wandered if you would like to go with me?" Was it me, or did Jessica sound a little breathless. Edward was quiet for what seemed like and eternity.

"Ok, what time should I pick you up?" I couldn't believe it and clearly Jessica didn't either, because she sputtered her reply.

"Oh! Uh, um, 3pm Saturday. We have to get down there early in order to get things ready for the barbecue. There'll be some surfing and a bonfire." Jessica prattled on and on with Edward. I noticed Alice looking at me in shock.

"So much for your visions!" I knew it was mean to say but I didn't care. I got in my car and drove away. I don't know why I was so upset, but it just figures, some things don't change. At least this time I had Alice and Rose with me, instead of being all alone dealing with this. I decided to go to Newton's camping store in order to get my schedule for work. I need some time alone.

Rosalie:

I didn't want to think about Emmett Cullen, so instead I attacked the cookie dough ice cream. I officially hated men! Why did they behave this way! I settled down on the couch and turn on the t.v. to watch reruns of America's Next Top Model. As I just stared at the flatscreen without really knowing what was going on, I remembered some of the conversation I had with Alice earlier today. I picked up the phone and made my call.

"Hello."

"Mom, hi!" I truly missed my mother, but I had to know something.

"You want to come home already, honey?"

"No, but I have something to ask you." I was now nervous, I don't think mom would want me to bring this up, but I had to know.

"Yes, what is it Rose?"

"What happened with you and Billy Black?" there was absolute silence on the other end of the phone.

"Did you meet him?" Her voice was breathless, and almost panicked.

"Not yet, but…" that's as far as I got.

"Rose I can't do this right now."

"Mom, please, what happened when you saved him?" but all I got was a dial tone. I was stunned, my mother had never hung up on me in my entire life. I was now determined to find out what happened between my mother and Billy Black. Uncle Charlie walked in just after my phone call with mom.

Charlie:

The girls seemed to be settling in just fine, and school didn't seem to be a bother. They were so interesting to watch. Alice was definitely the fashion plate, and Rosalie had to be the prettiest girl at Forks High, at least that's why all the boys were saying in town. They were careful what was said around me, but I pretty much got the picture, and then there was Bella. Still grown up and shy, and now a fledgling mermaid, I hope Rose and Alice could help her.

"Hi Charlie!" Rosalie was all smiles.

"Hey, where are the others?"

"Alice is on her way home and Bella I think went over to the Newton's supply store, to copy her work schedule." I was relieved, the girls had been her several weeks and so far had been settling in nicely.

"I'm home!" Alice announced.

"Good for you." Rosalie appeared to be upset with Alice.

"Come on Rose, everything will be all right. Besides we have to start selecting outfits to wear to the la Push party." I froze instantly.

"La Push party?" I asked, I sipped my coffee to disguise my nerves.

"Yeah, some of the kids at school are meeting up with some of the kids on the reservation." Alice trilled.

"Maybe you girls should skip this party." Alice looked at me in surprise, and Rosalie just stared.

"But Charlie, this will give us a chance to mix in more with the school kids." Alice said.

"Yeah, and we need to engage in normal activities." Rosalie added.

"But what about Bella, she's a neophyte mermaid, what if she compromises us?" I had to remind them of this.

"We have it covered, we'll take her down to the beach really really early and let her change and play around in the water for a while. Then right before everyone shows up, we get out the water and change into our clothes. I even know what the fishing shack is." Alice finshed.

"I don't want to know how you know, but I'm not keen on this. Plus the Quileutes know about us, well at least some of them do, the others just think we're part of Forks legend." I needed them to understand the risks.

"Charlie, please." Rosalie pleaded. I was surprised at Rosalie's interest, but if it would get her into a more normal life, I wasn't going to fight it. I just worried about Bella.

"We will be really careful, I promise!" Alice cried. Bella walked in then.

"Hi dad. Alice can I talk to you upstairs?" Bella looked a little murderous, I didn't want to know. Alice and Bella went upstairs

"I'll go referee." Rosalie answered and followed them up. I waited until all the girls were upstairs and I grabbed the phone. I needed to warn the reservation.

"Hello?"

"Hi Billy, its Charlie. Listen, I understand there's going to be a party this weekend?"

"Yeah, the kids are all excited." Billy seemed happy himself.

"Great, I just want you and the others that know the keep an eye on a few people." The other end of the receiver was suspiciously quiet.

"Billy?"

"Yeah. Who am I babysitting this time?"

"Rosalie, Alice and Bella." I held my breath.

"All three are here?! When, and how? Never mind, we'll discuss this later. I'll talk to the other families and go from there. Don't worry Charlie, they'll be safe." I breathed a sigh of relief, because one, I wouldn't have to go to this party, and two, I knew Billy would keep the girls and our secret safe. I was the one of only two surviving male Swans. I had a distant cousin, and he was a merman like me, but his wife left once she found out their children were merpeople. If everything went according to plan, then it wouldn't take the girls too long to find mates.


	12. Party

**Here's the next chapter! I hope you like it! I hope to get the next one out by tomorrow night!**

**As usual, I don't own any of the Twilight characters! Thanks for the reviews and enjoy!  
**

Party

Edward:

"I hope you're happy now Jazz, I have a date with Jessica!" I said as I slammed my way into the kitchen.

"To the La Push barbecue? Excellent! Now all we have to do is figure out how we're going to get past Carlisle and mom." He replied. I had an idea, but I wasn't ready to share it yet.

"I have to pick Jessica up at three on Saturday. What are you planning in between time?"

"I have to figure out where to stash my surf gear first of all. I heard that Yorkie asked Charlie's Angels to the party so this should be interesting." My jaw dropped open, because this was news to me.

"Bella is going to be there, and I'm showing up with Jessica!?"

"Alice will be there too!" Jasper grinned and I wanted to punch his face in.

"Better hope she doesn't run away this time." I said, and I was happy that Jasper wiped that grin off his face. I was about to head upstairs when Emmett walked in.

"I have some news. The girls are going to the party."

"Too late, we know."

"Then you also know that Lauren asked me out?" I was stunned and so was Jasper.

"What did you say?" I had to know

"Yes, but I'm concerned because the Angels will be at the party."

"Remember, we're supposed to keep it low key. Just because you two have dates doesn't mean it has to be serious. Besides Jessica and Lauren will talk like there's no tomorrow because they'll be pleased that they're on dates with you two."

"You better be right about this Jasper, or you'll be drinking all your meals through a straw for the next few months." Emmett intoned casually as he strolled out of the kitchen and up to his room. I looked at Jasper with an "I told you so" face, Jasper just shrugged his shoulders. He seemed so cock sure of himself, he really believed this situation would turn out ok. I wasn't as excited. I needed to dress with care, but if I looked too good, then Jessica would think I'm trying to impress her. I wanted to impress Bella, but the question was how could I impress her? She barely knows exist. I kept thinking back to the conversation in class and her unusual reaction to my questions. Something was definitely different about her, I wish I knew what it was. Dinner would've been a sober affair, but Emmett and Jasper had other plans.

"Mom, can we go down to the Quileute reservation this weekend? I think Harry Clearwater might be able to help me with some of the truck repairs." I instantly held my breath.

"This doesn't have anything to do with the party going on there this weekend, does it?" Carlisle asked in his soft silky voice. I choked on my broccoli.

"Dad, we're sorry, we know we messed up with the Bohannon girls, but if you really look at our track record over the past several months, you'll see that we haven't been tied up with any girls really." I said. I knew we had to come clean.

"So now you're back to calling me dad." I gave Carlisle an exasperated look. Jasper and Emmett tried not to look hopeful.

"Come on dad, we promise not to get into any trouble at the party." Jasper chimed in, Emmett wisely kept quiet, since he was the one that did the deed with Irina.

"Considering that you three are seeing the Swan girls, you need to stay out of trouble." I had almost forgotten about that story, I was surprised Carlisle believed it.

"We can and we will, please just trust us this one time." Emmett said earnestly. Carlisle looked at us, and then turned to mom to talk to her about work. We all let out a collective sigh. The baked chicken, that was usually so delicious, tasted like cardboard in my mouth. I looked over at my brothers and they looked as pathetic as I felt. Carlisle was killing us. Mom had made hot fudge brownie sundaes for dessert and we turned them down. She looked so disappointed, and we hated to disappoint our mom more than anything, but I don't think we could stomach our desserts tonight. I excused myself and trudged up to my room and buried myself in my homework. I was so absorbed in my history paper that I almost didn't hear the soft knock at the door.

"Yeah." I said, still buried in my final draft of my paper.

"Edward" I stopped and realized Carlisle had come into my room. I looked up and before I could say anything,

"I want you to meet me in my den in five minutes." He turned and walked out then. I sighed and put everything aside in order to go down to the den, when I got there, Jasper and Emmett were already waiting. Carlisle had come in soon after me, and I was suddenly nervous. It was strange because my dad was the most soft spoken, kindest man on earth, but he made me and my bothers very nervous just the same.

"About this party at La Push beach." The three of us stiffened, we thought this was over and not up for discussion.

"I have three rules, one, no sex, you will be with the Swan girls, and I don't want to lose a good friend in Chief Swan because you three can't keep your pants on. Two, no drinking, yes I know you three drink, I'm not an idiot. You're not supposed to drink to begin with, but we'll tackle that later, but you three will not drink while dating the Chief's girls, and your curfew is midnight. Come home thirty second late and your grounded again." Christmas had come early!

"Thanks dad, we really needed to get to this party." Emmett gushed.

"To stake you claim on your women I would imagine." If he only knew the truth.

"Your mother is insisting on making some dishes for the party, can I count on at least one of you helping her." It was a statement, but we didn't care, I think we were just too happy to care.

Jasper:

"Could you please get three more eggs, Jasper" Mom said. She was making her artery clogging mac and cheese. Nine cheeses, three eggs, two sticks of butter, heavy whipping cream, half and half, evaporated milk, sour cream and a triple bypass later, and you were as good as new… did I mention the macaroni noodle?

Anyway, mom made enough food to feed five armies and their reserves. We had fun taking turns helping mom with various dishes. I think we also wanted to impress everyone with all the food we were bringing, and by everyone, I meant Charlie's Angels.

"Mom, this has to be the last thing you make, we still need room for the sodas, my sailing gear, Jasper and Emmett's surf gear, and the ribs and hamburger we're taking." Edward reminded mom.

"Yes dear, I just want to make sure there's enough to eat." I was amazed at all the fattening recipes mom knew, because she's always been so slim.

"Did you get the supplies for s'mores?" Emmett asked, according to him, s'mores were an essential food group.

"Yes honey, they're in the cabinet with the graham crackers." I looked as Emmett pulled out the graham crackers, marshmallows and,

"Mom, these are Dove chocolates. What happened to the Hershey's?"

"Dove tastes so much better! You'll thank me later." Emmett looked skeptical.

"I'm heading out, I've packed up my car and I'll meet you at the party." Edward said, it was getting close to three and he had put off going to get Jessica for as long as he could manage. Since Edward wanted to impress Bella, he dressed bummy casual. A chambray button down, with cargo shorts and black leather Converse sneakers, he also had a denim jacket and a pull over fisherman's sweater. He insisted the sweater was for Bella if she got cold. It was interesting that he drenched it in his cologne. I knew the outfit because he asked me to help him pick it out. I told him not to worry about clothes at this point, because Jessica would think it was all for her. He didn't care, so he left out looking like a cross between a J Crew and Abercrombie model. I had to talk him down from wearing cologne, but I think he used some anyway.

I shook my head, because if Stanley liked him now, then she would fall in love with him today. That was going to be an interesting love triangle.

"I guess I better head out as well." Emmett said stuffing his s'mores ingredients into a bag. Emmett also was dressed to impress, he wore a long sleeve dark green polo, with worn jeans and hiking boots with a leather jacket, he took his pea coat just in case Rosalie was chilly later. He would never admit it, but he was hoping Rosalie would notice him, but like I told Edward, the only one noticing Emmett will be Mallory. I did feel sorry for Edward and Emmett, they would have to deal with Mallory and Stanley, those girls were just slutty.

"Jasper, remember what I said." Emmett enforced on his way out the door. I had to admit I was more than nervous. Edward and Emmett would follow through on their promises. The term "bros before hoes" did not apply here, especially since I was their brother and I basically put them into a position that could potentially make them lose out on two girls they actually liked.

I guess I would've felt the same way, because there was just something about Alice. I swear Charlie's Angels were enchantresses or something, because me and my brothers have never had to work so hard to get a few girls to notice us. I also kept hearing how Alice was so sweet and nice, she was turning out to be quite a popular girl, which only made trying to get with her harder.

I dressed with extra care, heavy jeans with a gray long sleeve t-shirt and a black regular t-shirt layered over it and my New Balance sneakers, and I begged mom to make all my favorite dishes, so I could get Alice to try them. I figure that a to a woman's heart could be through he stomach, just like a guy's. I mean girls got hungry and they do eat, right? I also made sure I had extra blankets, and I brought a heavy cotton hoodie just in case she got cold later on this evening. I knew I was laying it on thick, but I needed to get in where I could, and I didn't want to miss an opportunity. I know if this were different circumstances, Em and Edward would've given me a run for my money, laughing at me and teasing me in preparation for this party, but since they pretty much did the same thing, all was quiet and peaceful.

I left out with the car full of food and gear, I felt like I was camping instead of going to a bonfire, but it didn't matter, I had a mission to complete.

Emmett:

"I was one of the first to arrive, and Mallory was trying to stick to me like super glue. I gave her a few jobs instead, like helping me to unload the car. I know I liked to get laid, but I'm always suspicious about a girl that gets so physical so soon on the first date. She already tried to wear my pea coat, I told her that it stays in the car. She still didn't seem deterred. At least my pea coat was safe, it was bad enough that I was here with Mallory, I didn't want Rosalie to see Mallory in my pea coat.

"Hey Emmett, how's it going?" Sam Uley said walking up to the car. We were on a picnic area near the beach, and so there were tables set up, with a shelter, and someone had brought two of those grills, which were converted from oil barrels. Some of the girls from the reservation came running over. They giggled when they saw me and all rushed up to Mallory. I guess they were talking about me, I don't know, but they kept looking over in my direction and giggling. Let Mallory have her bragging rights, she wouldn't have them for long. Not too soon after I showed up, Edward showed up with Stanley. He didn't look thrilled, but plastered a polite mask on his face to spare her feelings. We loved girls too much to deliberately hurt one, but that didn't mean we didn't like some girls. Edward got busy unloading his truck.

"Did you bring enough food?" Quil Ateara asked sarcastically.

"Nope, Jasper is still coming with his car load." Edward grinned.

"I don't think we brought enough plates for leftovers." Embry Call said shaking his head. Jasper pulled up and started unloading his car.

"Seriously guys, how much food did your mom make?" Quil asks as Jasper unloads even more dishes from his vehicle.

"We had to stop her, I guess she figured lots of people would show up today." Jasper answered.

"Well in that case, she's right. I'm just so surprised that she made all this." Embry replied. The guys helped unload the car and the girls help set when,

"I'll be glad when Jacob gets here! Lucky bastard got all of Chief Swan's girls to himself this morning. Those girls are hot! To add insult to injury, he took them off somewhere secret, and wouldn't let us come along!" Edward, Jasper and I froze as if we were one body.

"They aren't that pretty." Said Emily, Sam's girlfriend.

"Please don't start, that's all we've been hearing about for the past few weeks are the Swan girls and how Jacob couldn't wait until they came to visit him." Leah moaned.

"At least you don't have to go to school with them, they are like the shiny new toys, and every guy wants to fuck at least one of them!" This was Stanley, she always was a jealous bitch.

"Wait until you meet Rosalie, she thinks she's the most beautiful thing to ever walk the earth, its sickening!" Mallory said. Was it me or did she give me a sideways glance. I looked at Edward and Jasper and they were staring right back at me.

"So this is what jealousy looks like huh?" Paul said, another one of Sam's friends said grinning.

"I am so not jealous of them!" Stanley screeched.

"Really! For instance Bella, always pretending to be shy and innocent, with her plain brown hair and eyes. Nothing special to look at, she never really speaks, just sits there blushing all day long. I can't even believe she's in AP classes." Mallory said coming to Stanley's defense.

"Bella in AP classes I can see, but Alice and Rosalie?! Rosalie looks like she couldn't add four plus four. She's the typical big breasted blond. I swear looking at her can make your IQ drop about forty points." Stanley added.

"And Alice, that girl is so weird, and people think she's the best dressed. She has no fashion sense what so ever. In class, she's been known to stare off into space for no reason. It's so creepy." Mallory concluded.

"Yeah, this is what jealousy looks like." Sam answered. He then went over to Edward and whispered,

"Why did you guys bring them along?"

"They asked us out, believe me there is a good reason why Emmett and I are on dates with these two."

"Please, the payout better be worth it. Please tell me you get to tap some body's ass for this, otherwise, it's not worth it."

"We don't know yet, but I'll let you know the end results. We're here to…"

"Get to know the Swan girls?" Sam finished for Edward.

"How did you guess?"

"Just a hunch, no one tortures him self without a good reason." Sam smiled and walked toward the grills to get things going. Jasper and Edward gave him the ribs and hamburger. Quil went to set up a deep fryer, apparently someone had gotten a hold of Harry Clearwater's homemade fish fry. Some of the other kids from Forks started to come in, and more kids form the rez came over. Finally, the girls we had been waiting for made their appearance. The guys went crazy and the non-friendly jealous bitches muttered. All the friendly girls went over to make friends, even Angela was there with her boyfriend. He decided to come home for the weekend. He glared at us and we made sure we stayed away from him.

Edward had got a hold of one of Carlisle's boats, and he took people out on rides. Some of us surfed and others went fishing. Some time during the party someone brought music, so there was dancing. All this while we watched Charlie's Angels get to know and make new friends. It was tough watching all this when I just wanted to take Rosalie on a romantic walk and get to know her. As soon as dusk hit, someone started the bonfire. We instantly saw the reason for one, the flames licking the wood were blue and we had and interesting show. All things were going well until I noticed Jacob and Bella going off alone. I alerted Edward.

"Hell to the damn no! I need to break that up!" he went to his car, and took out his pullover and a blanket, and followed the direction I point him toward. He was going for a good fifteen minutes, but when everyone reappeared, Bella was blushing as usual, Jacob looked sulky and Edward looked vindicated. I looked at Bella again and noticed that she was wearing Edward's sweater and had his blanket wrapped around her.

I saw Stanley looking in their direction, and I knew her heart lurched. She glared at Bella, and I knew then on, there would be a vicious love triangle. This gave me the courage to grab my pea coat and offer it to Rosalie. I noticed she was at one of the tables, shivering slightly. I approached with caution.

"Rosalie." She turned and looked at me. The look on her face was indescribable.

"What do you want Emmett."

"You look cold, here put this on." I handed her the pea coat, she looked suspicious but she took it just the same.

"Thanks. It's freezing out here. I don't know why I thought I would be warm with just this sweater on."

"Can I get you anything else?"

"No thanks. I promise to return this to you by the end of the night." She gave me a small smile. I turned to rejoin the party, and that's when I saw Mallory. She looked so confused and hurt. She turned to run, but for the first time in my life, I didn't run after a crying girl. I felt bad, but not bad enough to comfort her. I knew I was being a dick, but honestly I found out all I needed to know from her.

Rosalie got up to join me at the bonfire, I noticed Jasper had gotten Alice to wear his hoodie, and she had a blanket wrapped around her. The night ended bittersweet. I left early enough to drive Mallory home, we didn't speak on the way to her house. She said goodnight, and got out of the car. I don't think I had to worry about Lauren Mallory bothering me at school again. Then again this was Mallory, I'm sure she would do something at some point. I just didn't know what. I drove home and it was about a quarter to eleven. I hoped Jasper and Edward made it in on time. We had much to discuss.


	13. Late Nights

**Thanks for all the great reviews, and I'm glad so many of you like the story!**

**As usual, I don't own any of the characters, or the story of Twilight. Enjoy this chapter!**

**PS, if there is anyone interested in being my beta, please send me a message, thanks!  
**

Late Nights

**Alice:**

We started this thing where we have the weekly recaps on Saturday night of each week. This one was later than usual as we were at the La Push Bonfire. The day went as planned. We drove down and met with Billy and Jacob Black. Rosalie and Bella were still pretty mad at me. I told them not to worry about what was going on with Emmett and Edward, and that looks were deceiving. This seemed to piss them off even more because they didn't want to acknowledge any feelings for the Cullens. Actually they probably didn't have feelings yet, I think they were in denial about the attraction. I was definitely in denial about being attracted to Jasper, but that's another story.

Jacob Black was a very handsome young man, and he had eyes only for Bella. It's too bad that Bella's future was solidified with Edward's. It was essential that Bella change, so Jacob took us to a secluded area where we could swim to out hearts content. Well Rosalie and I swam, Bella just sat in the shallow water, staring at her tail.

"My dad told me all about your dad and your aunts. Charlie has never let anyone other than his sisters see him in transformation, but dad said he used to see Amaryllis and Mary all the time." Jacob was telling Bella, he gazed at her adoringly.

"I never thought I would ever have a tail." Bella looked at her tail, noting the patches of tiny scales, and smooth areas. Bella had a mixed tail, part fish and part dolphin, not very common. The deep sea blue of her tale was in stark contrast to her pale skin, she even had some patches of those tiny scales inch up on the sides of her belly. Bella decided it was best to wear a surf shirt, so Jacob didn't have to stuff his eyes back into his head. Plus the idea of being topless just didn't sit well with her. I thought this was a good idea, Rosalie had to be coaxed.

"Bella, come out in the deep water!" Rosalie called out, Bella shook her head no. Rosalie the disappeared underwater, her deep blood red tail with tiny scales all over disappearing with her. My tail was so a charcoal gray, almost black in appearance, and like a dolphin's, smooth and shiny. I just couldn't imagine showing myself to Jasper like this.

"Do you three know how long I have waited for one of you to come to Forks!?!" Jacob exclaimed. I guess he was ecstatic about seeing a mermaid up close and personal.

Bella was a little embarrassed, but I could tell there was a mild attraction, after all Jacob was as tall as Edward, not quite as handsome, but there was something, maybe a friendship between to awkward people. Whatever it was, they clicked. Then all too soon, it was time for the barbecue and bonfire. We dried off, and took over the Black's small home. After we got dressed again, we were off to the barbecue, and guess who we saw first. The Cullens.

"Alice, why didn't you give Jasper his hoodie back?" Rosalie asked grinning.

"I don't know, for the same reason you still have Emmett's pea coat and Bella has Edward's sweater and blanket." Rosalie just made a face and settled in on the couch.

"What do you guys make of the barbecue?" Bella asked.

"I want to know why Emmett and Edward had dates, and then ditched them. This only proves what Angela said about them." This was Rose of course.

"You still don't know that. I heard that Jessica and Lauren asked Edward and Emmett, not the other way around. I also heard that Edward and Emmett have never been impressed them those two, I think they were trying to be nice." I told them.

"Yeah, kind of like they were being nice with the pea coat and the sweater." Bella said.

"Notice they didn't ask for them back."

"They left before we could give them back!" Rose cried.

"Why would you want to give that pea coat back, it smells divine!" I grinned.

"So how did you end up with Jasper's hoodie?" Bella asked.

"And blanket! Well I was sitting by the bonfire, and even though it was warm, I was still chilled to the bone. He just comes over and asks me if I needed something extra to keep warm. I was so grateful that I just took it and didn't notice who gave it to me. When I looked up, I saw Jasper. I couldn't run away after he gave it to me. The next thing I knew, he was sitting next to me, and I wanted to die. I realized then that he was the same guy I had been seeing in my visions for a long time, except he never had a face. It's difficult to describe."

"So does Jasper's hoodie smell divine?" Rosalie asked, she could be so waspish at times.

"Yes. We talked for a little while. I told him about Biloxi and how school was there. He told me about living here is Forks, and where he plans to go for college. It was very low key and no pressure."

"So, what do you think of him?" Bella was grinning a little.

"I think he's nice."

"You're not going to run away from him anymore are you?"

"No, plus I want to keep the hoodie, although I will have to give it back in intervals and make him wear it. You know, to keep his smell in it." I could feel my skin heating up, I must have been blushing horribly.

"Um, so just how far gone are you?" Rosalie asked grinning herself.

"I don't know yet. Why don't you tell me about Emmett and his pea coat?" I said, Rosalie just looked at me.

**Rosalie:**

I inhaled the scent of Emmett's coat, and tried not to be turned on. Seriously how could one guy be so hot! Royce didn't even compare, but I shut that thought out immediately. I didn't want to think about him.

"Why are you being to nice to me?" By this time we were heading back toward the bonfire. I pretended not to notice the exchange of looks between him and Lauren. I knew I could be a bitch, but Lauren had me beat by a long shot, so imagine my surprise when she turns and runs away, I think she was even crying. I couldn't find it in my heart to feel bad for her, she always gave me the nastiest looks in school, and acted as if I didn't notice.

"I'm being nice to you because I like you." The statement was simple and to the point. I wasn't expecting such a blunt answer. I felt my face get hot, and I just kind of stared into the bonfire. We were quiet for a while and then,

"Aren't you going to say something?" Emmett asked me, he did sound a little nervous.

"Emmett, I've been through a really rough ordeal. You're going to have to give me some time." I couldn't even look at him when I told him this, he didn't understand what was going on and I wasn't ready to tell him about Royce. Even if I were ready, I couldn't even tell him the whole story.

"I just want to know if I have a chance."

"Emmett, I can't promise anything right now, just don't push me. You have to give me some time, I need to take things very slowly." I don't know if that was enough for him, but I needed him to know I had to take it slow. I glanced at him and he looked into my eye and nodded. I think he understood, but only time would tell.

"Besides, you have unfinished business with Lauren." I said, I knew it was a little petty, but I wanted him to know to clean up that mess before he started with me.

I thought about all the events of the day, and finally I was back in the living room, answering Alice's question.

"Nothing, I was cold and Emmett gave me his pea coat to wear."

"Even though he had a date?" Alice asked.

"Yes. Look, he told me how he felt and I told him I need time, are you happy?"

"Yes, so will you give him fair shot?" Alice asked, Bella was listening for my answer as well.

"Yes I will. Now why don't you grill Bella about how she ended up with Edward's sweater and blanket?" I needed the attention off of me for a while.

**Bella:**

I could have died when Edward walked up on me and Jacob.

"You're cousins sent me to check on you?" He said politely, but I noticed the tightness in his face, and the way he clutched the sweater and blanket in his hands.

"No worries, I was just showing Bella one of my favorite spots." Jacob said nicely. I shivered involuntarily, because I didn't know what to expect.

"Are you cold? Here, put this on." Edward handed me a beautiful, cream cable knit fisherman's sweater. I took and pulled it over my tee shirt, it was warm, and smelled like Edward. I almost came in my panties, because his sweater smelled really good. He must have worn this sweater recently. Jacob looked annoyed at Edward and he threw a scared look of concern in my direction.

"I'll walk her back." Jacob said.

"Well Alice did send me to look for you, so I think we should all head back. Here Bella, put this on too." It was his blanket, it was knit and the same color as the sweater. His smell was saturated in the blanket as well, I felt myself go dizzy. So I did what I do best, I tripped. Edward caught me immediately.

"Are you ok?" He asked. He should not be touching me, he had a date.

"I'm fine, where's Jessica? Isn't she here with you?"

"She's at the bonfire." His response was almost indifferent.

"Shouldn't you be looking after your date then?" Jacob asked rudely.

"She is being looked after, she's with the rest of the group, unlike you two." Was it me, or was there a tinge of irritation in his voice. His answer was reasonable, and we couldn't argue with his logic. However when we gain site of the bonfire, Jessica's reaction said something completely different. She stared at me, then looked back at Edward and then at me again. Jessica didn't let anything show on her face, she just turned and started helping some of the other clean up. We sat at the bonfire for a while, Edward and I, Jacob had been called away by some of his friends. We sat in silence, just staring into the fire. I think our feelings were mixed, and just when I was going to try to start a conversation, Rosalie arrived to tell me it was time to go home. I glanced at Edward and said goodnight. By the time we were half way home, I realized that I still had his sweater and blanket.

I quickly explained all this to Alice and Rose and they just grinned at me.

"Well I think tonight we can say, we have boyfriends." Alice chirped.

"I wouldn't let them know that!" Rosalie muttered.

"We don't have to, it will only be a matter of time now. The vision is solid, it's a hundred percent now. There's no turning back."

"Well since there's no turning back, then maybe you should start seeing if there's anything else that's going to be happening with us. How long do you think we can have serious relationships with the Cullens and keep the fact that we're mermaids from them?" I said. Bella and Rosalie didn't have an answer for that question.


	14. SDS

**Here's the next chapter folks! I'm so happy that so many are enjoying the story!**

**As usual, I don't own any characters or ideas of the Twilight Saga, all ownership belongs to Stephanie Meyer.**

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S.D.S

**Emmett:**

"You two are cutting it kind of close." I said when Jasper and Edward came into the kitchen at a full run at exactly eleven fifty-nine.

"We made curfew, that's the important thing." Jazz stated.

"So what happened between you and Lauren?" Edward asked.

"She saw me give Rosalie my pea coat and didn't talk to me for the rest of the night. I'm telling you, Mallory and Stanley are not normal. I think she over reacted, she acted as if we've been dating for a while."

"I have to agree with you there, Stanley is bound to make Bella's life miserable now."

"Not unless you let her know it won't be appreciated." Jazz explained. I had to admit the idea had merit.

"So what happened with you and Alice?" I asked.

"Well I offered her my hoodie and blanket and we had a nice conversation. She told me a little about Biloxi and what school was like there and where she lived. I kept it light."

"Good, my conversation with Rosalie was interesting. Remember those articles we found about those guys drowning. I'm thinking Rosalie was linked to one of them some way, because she said she had been through an ordeal and she needed time and she didn't want me to push her. I wish we could find out more about what happened." I explained.

"I say we review the articles again, maybe we overlooked something." Edward suggested. Then suddenly Carlisle entered the kitchen.

"I see you boys made it back on time." It was a statement, Carlisle did that a lot.

"Yes and we had an amazing time, thanks Carlisle!" Jazz said, we sat there grinning like idiots.

"Ok guys, have a goodnight." Carlisle then went back upstairs.

"So what do we do?" Jasper asked

"We pick apart that story from Rochester. I think we should also find out what is the connection between the Blacks and the Swans." Edward suggested.

"What makes you think there is a connection?" I asked.

"Think about it, the girls have only been here a few weeks, and suddenly they jump up one day and spend the day with Billy and Jacob Black? It doesn't make sense, unless the families already know each other. We need to find the connection." I let that thought marinate for several minutes.

"Maybe you're right, back to the newspaper microfilm." I said.

"After we research all this, then what?" Edward asked.

"Then we move into phase two, S.D.S"

"What the hell is S.D.S!?!?!" Jazz asked.

"Slow deliberate seduction." I said with a wide grin on my face.

"Careful with that look Em, you look insanely evil." Edward warned.

"Well the plan is a little mischievous, but it'll get the job done. We'll implement that when we figure out a little more about what's going on with the girls." We made our way to our respective rooms, happy at the outcome of the La Push party.

I had to admit this whole thing with Rosalie was getting to me. What happened between her and that boy? I instantly thought of her having sex with him, and I felt my temper rise, I knew I was being ridiculous, because this guy was dead and Rosalie was now in Forks. He could've been her best friend for all I know. I also wanted to know what the connection was between the Blacks and the Swans. I wonder if there was something we missed while researching the girls, perhaps we should have been looking at the big picture instead just a small piece. Whatever it was, the girls were a piece to a larger puzzle.

**Jasper:**

Alice seemed to abhor anything to do with her southern roots, and I couldn't understand why. Every time I asked, she answered "If you met my grandmother, you would understand."

I hated the woman, and I didn't ever know her. The conversation we had was nice, but I couldn't help thinking that I wanted to know more than I should at this point. She was still very new to Forks and knew nothing about my life… then again, Alice did come from a very well off family. I guess it's still not the same, I don't get the impression her family was a very supportive one. I knew without question that my parents and brothers loved me, it's not something we discussed, but I knew it and felt it. Alice had no qualms about leaving home to feel loved.

Nevertheless, I still wanted to get to know her better. Why were she and her cousins so mysterious? It intrigued and infuriated me all at once. When I did get a chance to find out anything, it was in such small doses that it left me wanting much more then what I had already discovered.

Sunday was the first day we could all relax, especially since we weren't grounded anymore. I was tempted to go over to the Swan's house, but I knew the time wasn't right, besides Emmett would have said no flat out, after all Rosalie didn't want to be pushed. What was up with that? I knew it was something Emmett wouldn't rest until he discovered, but it made me wonder too. And did Alice have anything to do with it? Were the girls keeping secrets? Well, of course everyone has secrets, but how deep did they go? And then there was Bella, the only thing I could say was good luck to Edward, she was the most mysterious of the three, so shy and quiet. What was she doing with Jacob Black tonight? I knew I'd never seen Edward so jealous before in my life. I'd never seen Edward jealous over a girl, EVER! I wanted to know what Edward found so fascinating about Bella, maybe it was the same thing Emmett saw in Rosalie, or the same thing I saw in Alice; the hint at the unknown, and it just spoke to us in three different ways through three very different girls.

I wondered what would make a girl that just lost her mother want to move so far from her family, and everything that she knows. What made her so close to her cousins, and I wondered if she even liked me at all. There was definitely a lot to think about, but I needed to be ready for Sunday, I think we pretty much wanted to go to the library and look up more Forks history. I never thought I would be interested in anything that happened in the tiny town, but suddenly Forks history was absolutely fascinating.

Sunday afternoon came so suddenly. Edward and Emmett were very determined to get to the library; it was only open four hours on Sundays. I couldn't blame them, I wanted to find out what was going on myself.

"I'll go check out the bound newspaper volumes, you two can decide what you want to do from there." Edward said and walked of to the librarian's desk.

"I guess I'll do microfilm." I said.

"And I'll do googling at one of the computer terminals." Emmett said. We worked silently for the four hours. We printed, we copied and we organized, and then we went home. The project continued from there, and the more we read, the more mysterious the Swan family became. We did find a link between the Swans and the Blacks, and we also found hints at a family secret.

**Edward:**

"So Mary Swan saved Billy Black. It was during that boating accident that Billy was paralyzed." Emmett was reading.

"Then it says she was never the same again, naturally neither was Billy Black, but then there's an article about Mary Swan leaving for college, she went to Wellesley out in Massachusetts. Met a wealthy banker at one of the functions, dated him during college and graduated with degrees in Art and Astronomy. Now that's a weird combination, she married her banker and never returned to Forks." Jasper said on some of the other bits of information her found.

"So, it appears that the Swans and the Blacks have a history. I wonder if the families were close." Emmett said.

"Maybe they were, if not before, definitely after Mary saved Billy's life. But I don't understand why Mary wouldn't return to visit at least." I said aloud.

"Well she doesn't have to visit. There are lots of people that never want to return to their home towns, for instance Bella's mom. She's never returned to Forks." Emmett reasoned. This was true, so no one would really put stock into that.

"What I want to know is why Alice moved away. I read her mother's obituary, and there's also rumors on the gossip sites that her father is planning to remarry. So soon after his wife's death? Makes me wonder." Said Jasper.

"You do have a point there."

"Also reading from all these high society articles and gossips rags, I have noticed that the Brandon family dynasty seemed disappointed in Amaryllis Swan for some reason. At first they were elated, because of her extraordinary beauty, but something happened that disappointed them, and then the disappointment seemed to deepen after Alice was born. Then there are the nasty rumors of a four year old boy from another woman. As far as Alice's mother, she seems to be shrouded in mystery herself." Jasper explained further.

I really didn't know what to think, but I was pretty much at square one with Bella, except for the fact that her mother left her father and never wanted to return to Forks. Why? And there's never been a mention of Bella's mother anywhere.

"Hey look, I've started noticing something else in these articles. The Swan men were known for winning fishing competitions, and the women were known for wearing and making unique jewelry, specializing in pearls. Their pieces were rare and expensive and no one could explain how they had access to such exquisite pearls, it appears the Swans had at some point made a fortune in jewelry making. It also mentions that the Swans were good friends with a certain marine biologist, the name is Armitage, a Dr. Richard Armitage. Then there was an article that mentioned that there was a discord between the Swans and the Armitages. Since then there haven't been any Armitages to live in Forks. I wonder what that was all about?" I told Jasper and Emmett.

"I think we're suffering form information overload." Emmett said. I had to agree.

"I'm turning in early, we have a lot to think about, plus school in the morning." Jasper said grinning, I translated that to mean, "I can't wait to see Alice tomorrow." I knew how he felt, I wanted to see Bella and I'm sure Emmett wanted to see Rosalie.


	15. Resolution

**Hey gang, here's the latest update, I hope you enjoy! Love the reviews, they always encourage me to continue writing**

**And the usual disclaimer, I don't own anything pertaining to Twilight! Thanks again!  
**

Resolution

**Bella:**

"I really don't feel like going to the cafeteria after what happened Saturday." I told Alice and Rose.

"What do you expect Lauren and Jessica to do?" Rosalie asked.

"Hey, wait up!" Angela shouted running up to join us.

"How was your weekend with your boyfriend?" Alice asked, all smiles. We genuinely liked Angela.

"It was wonderful! I love it when Jason comes home over the weekend." Angela smiled dreamily.

"I really don't want to go eat lunch." I moaned again.

"Why, what's wrong?" Angela asked.

"Nothing, just Lauren and Jessica, it seems that the Cullens are interested in us, and Jessica and Lauren don't like it." Rosalie explained.

"Watch out for those two, they can be pretty conniving." Angela said as we walked over to our table. The usual people were there, Tyler, Mike, Eric and Jessica and Lauren. Before we could make it over, Jasper walked up to us.

"Hey ladies, we wanted to know if you would like to sit with us at our table?" His smile was hopeful, and I noticed how he tried not to stare at Alice.

"Yes." Alice beamed and we all followed them over.

"I'm glad you decided to come with us Angela." I said.

"Did you think I wanted to be alone to face Jessica and Lauren?" She pointed out. I couldn't blame her.

"Are Jessica and Lauren giving you all grief?" Edward asked.

"Not yet, but we didn't want to stick around and find out." I answered.

"Oh I wouldn't worry about them, I'm sure we can come to a resolution." Rosalie said mysteriously.

"What do you have planned?" Emmett asked looking nervous.

"Yeah what do you have planned, Rosalie?" Alice asked.

"Don't worry, I've got in under control." Rosalie said vaguely. We were all a little nervous after that. Everyone was staring at our table, they couldn't believe the Cullens had actually invited someone to sit with them. I really didn't know what to make of the whole situation, so I just kind of followed along with the conversation at the table. All too soon lunch was over, and I chanced a glance at Lauren and Jessica. If looks could kill, we all would have turned to vapor.

I realized Biology was next and so I was getting more nervous with each step I took to class. Talking to Edward at lunch with other people around is one thing, but sitting next to him in Biology was another matter entirely.

I stepped into class, and Edward was at out table. We were given another lab assignment, so this gave us plenty of time to talk. As usual, Edward asked all the questions.

"So, I wanted to know, why do you love the water so much?" I felt like he was watching me closely, or maybe I just felt self conscious.

"I guess I get it from my dad."

"What did you think of the bonfire?"

"It was great, nice to get away from everyday life."

"How do you know Jacob Black?" I had to admit I never saw this question coming. Was it me, of did Edward look a little to serious when asking this question.

"I used to play with him when I was little, our families have always been close." Edward looked like he wanted to break something.

"Tell me about you and your family." I said. Edward did say much about himself or his family.

"What would you like to know?"

"How long have you been in Forks?"

"We've been here for about five years."

"Where did you come from?"

"Chicago. Well that's where my parents met, and married, then we moved here. Nothing much to tell about myself, Jasper is my twin, and Emmett is a year older. Dad is a general surgeon and mom is an artist, art buyer and art consultant. She plans on opening a gallery in Port Angeles and Seattle." This was the longest speech I had ever heard Edward make, but I couldn't be too shocked, I usually ran from him so he never really got a chance to talk to me. Class went by smoothly, but the best was yet to come.

**Alice:**

"Rosalie, you can't drown Lauren in the shower after gym class! People will get suspicious."

"Well we need to do something!"

"Why not wait until she actually does something?" Rosalie looked daggers at me, but she knew I made sense.

"Look, Emmett can make up his own mind, why does she even care?"

"Because she likes Emmett, be nice Rose. Plus you did tell Emmett not to push you and that he would need to go very slowly." I reminded her, this was met with a scowl.

I hadn't anticipated that Jessica and Lauren would be a problem, I tried to see the future and I still didn't see them as a problem, I just couldn't tell why exactly. I was very happy that Jasper loaned me his hoodie, I dreaded giving it back. I saw him on the way to calculus and he smiled. I smiled back and scurried away, I mean it wasn't like I ran away. Jasper still made me nervous, I knew too much about his history with girls, but I didn't know very much about him, well except that he appears to be a good student, his family is loaded and he wears panty twisting cologne.

I wanted to get to know Jasper, but I was a little nervous, after all I did have visions of having sex with him. That's been a little more than unnerving, and then there is the fact that I would have to conceal from him that I'm a mermaid. How does one keep that from a boyfriend? I can imagine the conversation now: "Let's go to the beach!" and I'd say, "I hate getting wet" and then he would look disappointed and feel that I was being a typical girl. Then he would try to just encourage me to get my feet wet, and I would have another weak excuse. There were so many things that could go potentially wrong, could I trust Jasper with the knowledge of what I really am? Bella did have a good point, other than worrying about Lauren and Jessica, the real question is; Can our boyfriends handle the fact that we are mermaids?

I thought about this question for the rest of the day, and I even tried to have visions about it. So far I saw the same reaction from all three Cullens, shock and surprise and nothing after that. The fact that I couldn't see anything after that was a little discouraging. I looked again into the future and this time I saw something else. It was faint and still kind of hazy, someone was making a decision about coming to Forks, and for whatever reason, they couldn't make up their mind. I would have to make a mental note to watch out for anything unusual for a while, no need to alarm the others, until I get something for sure.

**Rosalie:**

Ok, so Jessica and Lauren had me a little nervous. I so didn't want any drama happening at this new school, but then again people in hell want ice water and I know that's not going to happen anytime soon. Why did Emmett have to be hot and nice! I was all for avoiding him because I was being shallow, it's rather hard to overlook someone genuinely worth your time. Royce never offered me his jacket when I was chilly, he just told me to go inside, or he would take me home, but nothing for my immediate comfort. Emmett really listened to me, he kept it low key today in the cafeteria, he didn't push and prod, and I felt a lot of my edginess subside.

He made us laugh and talked about having a barbecue at his house and he was even kind enough to invite Angela and said they would wait for the next time her boyfriend came to visit, since she was our friend. His brothers treated Bella and Alice really nice too, I was impressed. I guess I felt even more protective of my cousins because of our secret and because of what happened to me. I don't think I would cope very well if something happened to them that were completely avoidable.

I thought about what happened at home and cringed. I still hadn't the strength to tell Alice and Bella, plus I had to keep our secret. Starting a relationship with Emmett would require a lot of thought. I would have to trust him with a lot of information, information which he probably couldn't handle.

I found myself longing for the days when I could be carefree, shallow and spoiled. Those days were now behind me, even then I had to have some depth in order to be able to change without mom knowing, and now this whole thing with Billy Black. I got a chance to talk to him about what happened, and he was only to glad to tell me.

"There was this terrible storm and your mother had taken shelter underwater. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but the winds went crazy and I lost control of the boat. I got tangled in the ropes and the sail, and I felt my body wrenched in two different directions. My torso seemed to go one way and my legs another, then I blacked out. The next thing I know, I come to, and I thought I was floating and then I realized someone had me, and they were swimming to shore. When we got near the shallow water, I tried to get up, but I couldn't move my legs, and I looked to your mother for help, and I looked down and saw her tail. I remember saying to her; "Ephraim Black wasn't crazy after all", and she stayed with me until help arrived. By this time, her tail had dried and she had her legs again. I guess I must have been gone for a long time, because there was a search party and everything. I was taken to the hospital and I found out I was paralyzed from the waist down. After that I met with the Swans and vowed to keep their secret, but your mother wasn't the same after that. She blamed herself for my being paralyzed. She went away to school and married your father and that was the last I'd heard from her."

I was completely shocked. I thought mom avoided the change, but clearly at some point, she would change and go swimming. I needed more answers, but I was in class, and just as I was completing my class assignment, a note was dropped on my desk. It was from Lauren.


	16. A Clue

**Ok gang, sorry about taking so long to update. Its been crazy around here lately.**

**Anyway, you know the spiel, I don't own any of Stepanie Meyer's Twilight universe.**

**Thanks so much for the great reviews, they keep me going. Also, I need beta reader, if interested please let me know!  
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A Clue

**Jasper:**

"Did you hear about what happened to Lauren?" This was Ben.

"No, what happened?" I tried to sound excited, but I was bored at the thought. However as Ben's story unfolded, I was dumbfounded.

"Are you serious? How?"

"Nobody knows and Lauren's parents had to pick her up, she didn't look too happy."

"I can imagine. Hey Ben, I have to get going, see you later." Ben waved, and headed to his car. I'm sure he was as mystified as I was about what had happened. I went straight home and waited for Edward and Emmett. Both had practice for some team sport, so I had some time. I finished my homework, now that Alice seemed to be a little interested, I had to make sure I was on top of my game at school. There was no way I was going to create opportunities not to be around Alice.

I was going stir crazy! I couldn't wait until Emmett and Edward showed up. I'm sure they would have heard about Lauren by now. Finally after about two hours Emmett strolled through the kitchen door.

"Okay, I know you heard." Was all I said.

"About Lauren? I didn't get the whole story, but it was pretty weird."

"Well I saw Ben afterschool and he told me the whole thing, and pretty weird doesn't cover it. You know the Mallory's, they will demand an investigation, unless Lauren is too embarrassed."

"I think she's embarrassed, they said she ran out of the class, but then again she would've had to run out of the class." Emmett pointed out. He was right, there was no getting around that.

"What could cause that to happen? It's a little weirder than a freak accident don't you think?"

"What are you guys talking about? Don't tell me, Lauren Mallory." Edward said coming into the kitchen and going for the refrigerator.

"You heard then." I said.

"Who hasn't heard, as I was leaving, Chief Swan was going into the school. I guess to the office to find out what was going on." Edward told us.

"The police are involved?" Emmett looked incredulous.

"Well if you think about it, it's kind of serious, I mean, has anyone every heard of that happening? This reminds me of that day when the pipes burst in biology. Interestingly the pipes didn't burst anywhere else. I thought that was strange, and now this. I wonder if we can look this up somewhere." Edward said.

"How do you google spontaneous pipe bursting? Or what would you call what happened to Lauren? How can we google that?" I asked.

"We may not have to, you know some asshole has probably put this on youtube. Maybe we can go from there." Emmett suggested. A few hours later, it was on youtube. Seriously! How do people capture this stuff and air it for the entire world to see?

**Edward:**

I had an idea that I was trying to bury, but I couldn't shake it. First the pipes burst in class, and Bella is in my class, and that freak incident with Lauren, and Rosalie is in her class. Is it a coincidence that one Swan girl was there for each strange occurrence? I was beginning to think that the Swan girls were connected, but how? And why? There was no proof that they were involved with anything, plus how crazy is that! Pipes burst all the time, and well the thing with Lauren, not so much, but I wonder if there is something that can cause that to happen. I wonder how I could google it. Being on youtube was one thing, but the other links listed went into strange phenomena, and supernatural shit. The more we looked the strange the listing became.

"Look at this, mermaids and elves!" Emmett shouted. He laughed until he almost cried.

"This is not helping, its getting pretty far out there. Maybe we should chalk this up as a freak accident and keep going." I said, I was pretty disgusted at the listings of mythical creatures.

"I agree, we still have to find out about Charlie's Angels. I say we get them out on dates. Not all together but we should ask then out." Jasper suggested.

"Duh, that's what I was going to do after I get to know Rosalie a little better. Besides, I can't wait to ask her what happened in class." Emmett said. I couldn't wait until he asked her what happened either.

**Emmett:**

I found myself thinking I was just happy Rosalie wasn't hurt. What going have happened to cause what happened to Lauren? I didn't get it, but I'm sure I wouldn't get the answer by reading about mermaids and elves. Thos story would go down in history as a freak accident. All the kids in the class were search, no one had any contraband with them, so there wasn't anyone to blame.

When I was leaving, I saw the Mallory's going into the school. They were not happy people. I had to get a hold of Rosalie and ask her what happened. This wouldn't be such torture if I had her phone number. I think I would get the digits before asking her out on a date. I went up to my room and finished my homework, and then I decided to read more of the articles that we copied and printed from the library. I noticed there were a few more mentions of the Black family and this mysterious Armitage family.

I was reading and then I sat up with a start. Dr. Armitage was placed under psychiatric care for several weeks. I called for Jasper and Edward, I must have sounded panicked because they both came at a full run into my room.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!?" Edward shouted once he reached my room.

"I'll read it to you." I started reading the article, and Jasper and Edward listened closely, until I reached the art about Dr. Armitage needing psychiatric attention.

"Now, here's where I flipped. It says, Dr. Armitage was placed under psychiatric care, after he publicly announced there were mermaids living in the vicinity of La Push beach." The silence that followed was astonishing.

"Mermaids at La Push?! Was he serious?" Jasper asked.

"I guess so if he was placed under psychiatric care. The article goes on to say that he soon lost all credibility and Dr. Armitage and his family moved away. I think we should look up more about this family, they are linked to the Swans after all." I said, Jazz and Edward nodded in agreement.

"I think we should also look up mermaids." Edward said suddenly.

"Why?" I asked, I knew I was giving him some sort of look, I just didn't know what it was. Jasper just looked confused.

"Because I want to know what would make him think there are mermaids at La Push." Once again, Edward had a point.


	17. The Punishment

** Hi all, sorry I've taken so long to update! He's the usual disclaimer: I don't own any characters from the Twilight Universe.**

**I hope you all enjoy this story!  
**

**The Punishment**

**Rosalie:**

"Are you with Emmett Cullen?"

What nerve!? I wrote back;

"None of your business"

This seemed to piss her off. She turned red with anger and glared at me, and she mouthed the word, "bitch". That was it, I glared at her, and her hair started to stand on end, like she had serious static electricity. The class started murmuring and laughing, she couldn't figure out why, so I stared more intently, this time I started to smell burning hair. Before I knew it, Lauren's hair was smoking, I instantly backed off, as Lauren grabbed at her head after one of the students pointed out to her that her hair was smoking. She ran out of the class, and everyone exploded into conversation. There were so many questions. Well Alice couldn't be upset with me, I did wait until she did something.

The teacher went to check on Lauren, and the next thing I know, the teacher is running down the hall. The nurse is with her, and shortly after that someone points out that an ambulance is pulling into the school parking lot. It all seemed to unfold in slow motion, but I knew everything happened in less than forty minutes.

I was dead, Charlie would instantly suspect me. Damn! just when I was getting to know Emmett Cullen, now this. This would get out all over the school and there wasn't anything I could do about it. The only good thing was that no one knew us very well, let alone enough to suspect anything. I was skating on thin ice. Just then Alice came to the door way of my classroom just as the bell was ringing. She was not happy.

"I hope you're happy Rose!" She said once we were out of ear shot.

"So I singed her hair a little."

"Her hair caught fire!"

"No it didn't!"

"Yes it did! When she left the classroom, and before she got to he girl's bathroom, her hair caught fire. Charlie is going to kill you!" Alice said in a loud whisper.

"Charlie doesn't know about this."

"Charlie is here, there was a 911 call placed." I knew at once that I was finished. Charlie was going to kill me. Bella met us at my locker, she looked incredulous.

"Rose really, burning someone's hair now?"

"Don't start Bella, I'm in enough trouble as it is."

"You don't say." Bella said with almost no sarcasm in her voice. I threw her what I hoped was a withering look, but even I knew I was scared.

"What will your dad do?" I asked

"I don't know, this is uncharted water for me as much as it is for you. It's not like you tried to sneak out of the house, you set someone on fire. I guess we can start with you being grounded and work our way up." Bella said. She was completely serious. I sighed, because I knew she was right.

"We might as well go home, we can't put this off any longer." Alice said. I felt as if the walk to our cars was like walking a plank. Before I knew it I was at my Jag, and before I knew it, I was home. Uncle Charlie's cruiser was in the driveway, and I worked up the nerve to enter the house.

I was the last one in, and I noticed Bella and Alice hovering around the living room.

"In here Rose." I heard Charlie's voice. He was definitely angry. I felt as if I were facing a firing squad.

"What the hell do you mean by setting Lauren Mallory on fire?" Charlie said loudly. I knew he wanted to shout, but he knew that he couldn't give us away.

"I was angry, I lost control of my temper. It wasn't intentional." I whispered, because suddenly I knew I didn't mean to hurt Lauren and the full enormity of what I did came crashing down on me. Anyone that you shouldn't fear anything or anyone is clearly an asshole. I was scared, because I didn't know what Charlie was going to do, and because I knew that whatever he decided to do, I totally deserved it. I watched as he paced back and forth, and I ventured a glance at Bella. She shrugged her shoulders, she was just a mystified as me.

"Alright, I have it. My boat has barnacles stuck to it. Remove them, and you can't use any of your mermaid powers. That should give you a while to think about controlling yourself, and that will also give me a chance to think of something to punish you." Barnacles! Was Charlie serious!?

"And no, you two cannot and will not help her!" Charlie yelled as he crashed his way out the front door.

"Ok, it's safe to say he's very angry. The fact that he couldn't think of anything isn't good." Bella concluded.

"And he hasn't had a chance to raise any kids yet, we're teenagers, so he's at his wit's end right now." Alice added.

"Plus I could have blown our cover." I said quietly. I wouldn't get any immediate answers, that much was clear, or maybe I could.

"Alice"

"No Rose, I won't look into the future to see what Charlie has in store for you."

"Well shit!" that's all I could think to say. Alice could be extremely good at times. I was just hoping this wouldn't be one of those times.

"We'll go with you to the fishing house, plus I want to see Billy and Jake again. Maybe they can tell us more about when Mom, Uncle Charlie and Aunt Mary were a family here." Bella said.

"But you still won't help me with the barnacles?" I pressed.

"Um, not a chance, dad can appear at will anywhere, so if he decides to come to La Push while we're helping you remove barnacles, well let's just say I don't want to find out what he does. He actually told you he's going to think about something else to punish you with. That doesn't sound too good."

"Barnacle removal is bad enough. Have you ever tried removing a barnacle off of anything before? Trust me, its hard work."

"Ok, but Rosalie, you set someone on fire, you got off easy." Alice answered. I couldn't object, I was getting off easy, for the time being.

**Alice:**

We headed down to La Push, and I didn't want to say anything, but I was getting some strange visions. Some bodies were coming to Forks, and I still couldn't place how they were going to affect us. We pulled up to the Black house and Jacob came out to greet us.

"Couldn't stay away." Jacob said, grinning at Bella. Rosalie and I just looked at each other, and then at Bella. Bella just blushed.

"We're actually here on assignment. Rosalie has to de-barnacle Charlie's boat." I heard Jacob try to stifle a chuckle, Rosalie glared at him. Bella threw her a warning glance.

"Do you need help?" Jacob asked.

"I'm not aloud to have help." Rose whined.

"If I had your powers, I would just burn them off." Jacob answered slyly.

"I don't think she should go that route, that's what got her into trouble in the first place." I said. Rosalie glared at her, and Jacob looked askance.

"What exactly did you do?" Jacob asked.

"She set some girl's hair on fire." Bella answered. I couldn't help but notice how much Rosalie started to blush. Jacob looked horrified.

"Which girl?" He asked.

"Lauren Mallory."

"That slut! I bet she provoked you." Jacob said to Rosalie, Bella and I just stared.

"Yeah, but the kids at school don't know about us, so I should've tried to control myself." Rosalie said.

"True, but at least it was a good cause." Jacob replied.

"We wanted to come here also because we wanted Billy to tell us about when the Swans were a family here." Bella said.

"Sure, go right in, dad is inside." Jacob said, he stayed back with Rose. We approached the small red house, and walked in. Billy wheeled around the shabby furniture, and greeted us warmly and invited us in for dinner.

"What brings you lovely ladies here?" he asked.

"The past." I said.

"Ah yes, something that you can't see." Billy said cryptically. I had the grace to blush.

"Anything specific you want to know?" Billy pressed.

"Well, I know that Aunt Amaryllis saved you and she left soon after that" Bella replied.

"Well saving me wasn't the only thing that sent her away, there was the matter of the Armitage family."

**Bella:**

"Can you believe it!?" I asked

"We have to head to the library and look up more info on the Armitage family. Mom never spoke of them when she was alive." Alice explained.

"Well if what Billy said was true, then I wouldn't want to mention them to anyone either." Rosalie said. We found ourselves at the library researching the Armitage family, and what they had against the Swans.

"I wonder what tipped him off?" Alice asked.

"Well he was a marine biologist." Rosalie said, stating the obvious.

"He wrote a few books right? Why don't we take out his books and see what he has to say." I suggested.

"Good idea." Alice said, as we headed over to the biology section. Just as we were going to turn down the aisle, Rosalie stopped shot and dragged us down the next aisle.

"What wrong?" Alice asked.

"The Cullens are standing in that aisle, and they are in the marine biology section." Rose whispered. Just as we were going to try and make a quiet escape, we heard something that captured out attention.

"Looks like Armitage wrote quite a few books, we'll take them all and breeze through them, maybe he may mention something we're looking for." Jasper said. Alice had gone completely ashen. I guess I looked panicked, because Rosalie looked incredulous.

"Yeah, I wonder what he saw to send him over the edge." Edward was saying.

"We'll find out when we scan through his books." Emmett said. At that the boys shuffled out of aisle. We froze in place, willing them not to notice us, and so they passed without so much a registering that we were in the library.

"What do we do now?" I asked.

"We see if the are any other books left by Armitage. I guess I'll say it since you two won't, why are the Cullen boys reading up on Dr. Armitage?" Alice asked

"Maybe they have a project?" Rosalie said weakly. We just stared at her.

"We need to investigate why, but in the mean time, we need to find out everything we need to know about this Dr. Armitage." I said. We spent the next few hours in the library, after we made sure the Cullens had left. We collected a few things and headed back to the house. We had a lot of ground to cover.


	18. The House of Armitage

**Hi everyone! Please don't be irritated that its taken me so long to update. Insanity has ruled my life for the moment. Anyway, here's the latest installment of Pearls, based on the world of "Twilight" by Stephanie Meyer! Please enjoy, and I promise to update with a few more chapters in the next few weeks.**

**The House of Armitage  
**

**Edward:**

We scoured Dr. Armitage's books and read up on his life through google. The man was hailed as a brilliant scientist, but when he claimed that mermaids existed, he lost all credibility.

"So let's review what we know." I said. Jasper and Emmett looked up from their various projects.

"We know there's some sort of bad blood between the Armitage and Swan families, we also know that the Black and Swan families are very close. Then we have Charlie Swan's sisters that seem to have a cloak of mystery around them, not to mention his ex-wife. And then we come to the angels themselves."

"We know Rosalie was attached to the mysterious drowning guys in Rochester, we know Alice's mother is dead and she's estranged from her father, we know next to nothing about Bella, other than her fascination with water. Then we have the incidents." Jasper and Emmett stopped me there.

"What incidents?" Jasper asked.

"Think about it, remember when I told you that the pipes burst in biology that first day Charlie's Angels arrived at school? Well, there weren't any other pipes bursting any where else is school. Then there is the whole Lauren Mallory thing. Don't you think it's a little weird that Rosalie is in the same class as Mallory, and then her hair catches fire? I mean think about it. Nothing unusual has happened here, until the Swan girls arrived." I said. Emmett and Jasper looked thoughtful.

"Perhaps, but Edward, how would you explain Rosalie setting someone's hair on fire, and Bella bursting water pipes? That's a bit much." Emmett said, he looked a little skeptical.

"I know but I think its weird, then we find out about all this history with the Swans and how much drama they've been involved in. But this still doesn't explain why the Armitage family and the Swan family had some sort of fallout. Do you think that maybe Dr. Armitage was suffering from some sort of mental illness? He did say he believed in mermaids." I pointed out.

"Good point." Emmett said.

I think we were at a dead end, when,

"Here you are." Mom said peaking into my room.

"What's up?" Jasper asked.

"I wondered if you boys could help me get dinner ready. Your father is bringing home guests."

"Yeah, sure." Emmett answered for all three of us. We headed into the kitchen and that's when we saw the light at the end of the tunnel.

"You boys are working hard on your extra credit project, what's it about?" Mom asked. At first I was a little confused, then I remembered that's what we told mom and Carlisle we were doing, instead of admitting we were stalking three girls.

"We're doing our project on some of the citizens of Forks." Jasper replied.

"Interesting, who did you pick?"

"We picked Dr. Richard Armitage, marine biologist." Emmett said.

"Why didn't you boys tell me sooner! I've been looking at a few pieces from his old estate that recently came my way. Nice paintings and such, but he had some of the most beautiful pearl jewelry I've ever seen. He must've had a very lovely wife."

As if on cue, we all froze in place.

"So Mom, what can you tell us about Dr. Armitage?" Jasper asked

"Well, he was well known, and he was an expert on many marine animals and plant life. He was very good friends with Chief Swan's father. The Swan women used to own this exclusive jewelry shop in Port Angeles, and Dr. Armitage would marvel at the pearls that the Swan family had access to. It was thought that Dr. Armitage became fixated on these pearls and wondered where they came from, because no one at that time, should've been able to collect natural pearls the way the Swan family collected pearls. Accusations were made and suddenly the great friendship ended. Then shortly afterward, Armitage declared that mermaids were living at La Push beach. As you can imagine, he lost his position in the community and eventually he packed his family up and moved away in shame."

"Why was he so preoccupied with the Swan's jewelry business?" I asked.

"Well it seems that the Swans were able to get their hands on quite a few rare pearls. At first, he probably thought that the pearls were cultured or man made, but at some point he realized they were real. Interestingly enough, the Swans closed their shop shortly before Armitage went mad. No one ever knew why, but maybe it was to escape investigation." Mom was so excited to have all of our undivided attention, she didn't know what to do.

**Jasper:**

We finished helping mom with dinner and headed back to Edward's room.

"I thought you were crazy at first, Edward, but I think you're on to something. The Swans are the key." I explained.

"What're you talking about Jazz?" Emmett inquired.

"Every time the name Swan comes up, something out of the ordinary happens. Now let's say that the jewelry store they operated was legit, but let's think about this, forty years ago, who would have access to loads of rare pearls? That would make one suspicious. What I want to know is why Dr. Armitage was so set against the Swans at this point." I explained.

"Disappointed in love, perhaps?" Edward guessed.

"With who? One of the Swan women? Wasn't the good doctor married?" Emmett asked.

"Since when has marriage stopped anyone? Okay maybe forty years ago, someone would've thought twice, unless his wife was already dead." I replied.

"Yes, but we still need to consider it. We need to find out more about this family. It could be the key to unlocking the Swan's mystery. So what else have we found out about mermaids?" Edward said.

"Well, they have legs when on land, and a fin or tale in the water. They're vain, and usually disappointed in love." Emmett offered.

"They can also be cruel and judgmental, as well as kind and loving. Their mate needs to make sure they are very happy, or suffer the consequences. Once they fall in love, there is no one else that exists for them, but their true love." I answered.

"So now we have to figure out what Armitage saw to make him think mermaids lived down near La Push. Do you think there are any Quileute legends about merpeople?" Emmett asked.

"Only one way to find out." I said.

"We visit Sam." Edward said with a huge smile.

"No, we visit Jacob Black, remember the party? They were with Jacob the whole day, up until the party. Plus the families are close. We need to find out what they know." I tried not to smile at the mutinous look on Edward's face. I'm guessing he's just a tad jealous when it comes to Jacob Black.

**Emmett:**

We went down to the Black house the following afternoon. I think we were all nervous, but we also had a good excuse. I had decided to follow up on my promise to rebuild a few old cars and everyone knew Billy Black was the go to person for cars. This time though, we had to find a way to talk about the Swan family. It wouldn't be easy, Billy Black is a very astute man.

"Hello boys, what brings you here?" Bill y greeted us and he wheeled out of his tiny garage. Jacob was in tow. Was it me or was there tension between Edward and Jacob?

"Hi Mr. Black! I have a few Chevy pickups that I'm restoring, I wondered if you could give me a few suggestions?" I said pulling out the manuals and info about said trucks. I kept a close eye on Jacob and Edward. They seemed to be having a went over to join their conversation. I was glad, Jazz has that ability to calm people down. I don't know how he does it or what he says, but he's good a defusing bad situations.

"Sure, let me get my glasses." Billy said, wheeling back to the garage. He quickly got his glasses and started reading some of the owners manuals I brought. He matched them up with the engineering books he had about the makes and models of the vehicles in question.

"So what's on your mind?" He asked nonchalantly. Was I really that obvious?

"Rosalie Hale." I said without thinking. I could feel my face heat up. Billy just chuckled.

"Yeah, she's a real firecracker isn't she? Just like her mother, insanely beautiful and a spitfire to boot."

"Yeah. But she's hard to get close to. Can you tell me about the connection between the Swans and the Armitages?"

Billy turned suddenly and looked at me with a deadly serious face.

"How much do you know?" He asked in a stern voice.

"Well we found out the families used to be close and then Dr. Armitage was disgraced and moved away." I replied. Billy looked at me, scrutinizing me.

"Do you know why he was disgraced?"

"Because he believes in mermaids." I said, almost smiling. However Billy was smiling.

"Wait, they're real?!" I whispered in shock.

"Yes. Here's what you'll need to get you started on the repairs. Comeback if you need anything else." Billy was so serious, I didn't understand what was going on.

"Mr. Black? What do the Swans have to do with the Armitage family?"

"Rosalie will tell you eventually." Billy replied. I knew I wouldn't get anything else out of him.

"Thanks, I'll be back for sure." I think he knew what I meant. When I walked out of the garage, I saw that Edward, Jasper and Jacob were still in deep conversation.

"Come on guys, we have to go. See ya later Jake!" I called out and then continued to walk back to the Jeep. I eventually heard Jasper and Edward behind me.

"What happened, you look different." Jasper spoke first.

"According to Billy, the mermaids are real. I couldn't get too much out of him after that, but he knows I'll be returning, and not just for car parts either." I don't know who was more surprised, me, Edward or Jasper.

"We still have to link the Swans to the Armitage family." Jasper said.

"Maybe it's too obvious, so obvious it's staring us in the face." Edward suggested.

"Well be that as it may, I'm determined to find out what is so special about the Swans and what happened between them and the Armitages."


	19. Meeting at the OK Corral

**Hey kids! Okay, here's another Update like I promised. I'm trying to be more regular so I won't leave you all hangin'. As usual, the world of Twilight does not belong to me, but to Stephanie Meyer. I love reviews and critics to please feel free!**

** I will say as a teaser to the next chapter, is that the boys really will have their work cut out for them with this latest development!  
**

**Meeting at the OK Corral**

** Alice:**

"Clearly we need to have a meeting." I said when the coast was clear. Bella and Rosalie just nodded.

"What would possess them to read up on Dr. Armitage? What are the chances!?! What do they know!?" Rosalie was clearly freaking out.

"We can't panic now, we have to remain calm." Bella said, although she was so pale, her lips were white.

"She's right, we have to think. Let's get back home and let me think" I stated. They knew what I was talking about. So we headed home to have a meeting. A strange memory crept up just as we were heading home. Whenever we had to talk mermaid stuff, mom would always say "We're meeting at the OK Corral". This was her way of saying the meeting was top secret, and we would meet deep into Grandmother's garden, where we couldn't be overheard. I suddenly felt giddy and excited, and then I realized it was the first happy memory I had of my mother since her death.

We finally reached the house, and the tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Charlie was still angry with Rose.

"How about those barnacles?" Charlie asked, looking stern.

"Finished." Rose said quietly. She actually managed to look humble.

"You came here to learn control, right?" Charlie asked Rose

"Yes."

"Your training begins tomorrow. I didn't think you would need formal training, but clearly no more time is to be lost." With that, Charlie marched to his bedroom and didn't come out for the rest of the night.

"You still got off too easy." Alice said.

"I'm not so sure about that, Dad clearly has an agenda in mind." Bella said. We couldn't argue with her there.

"Look Alice, go get your vision seeking over with, we need to know what's going to happen." Rose said. I went to the couch and lay down. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the future. By the time I opened my eyes to discuss what I had seen, Bella was deep in her homework and so was Rosalie.

"So do you two want to know what I saw?" I asked to break the silence. This got their attention.

"Spit it out Alice, we don't have all day." This was Rose, naturally.  
"Well there's been this vision of three individuals arriving, it's more solid, but I still can't make out what it means or what will happen when they get here. The Cullen brothers seem to be determined to find out about us in any way possible. I'm just not sure what tipped them off, or how much they know. Honestly I didn't think it necessary to watch them, so I can't be sure how much has transpired or even when they decided to take notice of us." I said.

"So does the outcome about us and the Cullens change?" Bella asked.

"No, those outcomes are so solid that there's nothing that could change it, but for some reason I can't see that they find out about us, at least not yet. Although they seem very confused, because whatever decisions they are going to make are cloudy. They're not sure how to go about getting to know us yet. I guess that's the best way I can explain it."

"Do we ever tell them about being mermaids?" Rose asked.

"I think that's one of the decisions that's up in the air, however, I don't think it matters at this point. It's solidified." I explained.

"Well I'm worried about these three people coming and we know nothing about them. I'm hoping we can get the whole Brothers Cullen thing under control first." Bella said. We were all tired and so headed up to bed, we did have school the next day.

**Bella:**

I was dreading going to school the next day, because it would all be talked about what happened to Lauren Mallory. I was also hoping that Jessica would be too worked up about what happened to Lauren to bother me. I wasn't scared of a bully, I was scared of losing my tempter. I had already caused my biology class to close down, I didn't need another notch in my belt.

"Bella, I think we should swim again this afternoon, take your gear." This was Alice. She was determined to have me log some hours as a mermaid. Thank goodness the rashguards I ordered had arrived. I didn't want to keep using my t-shirt collection. I was hoping today would be uneventful. Yeah who am I kidding, I should've known something was up when Alice was hesitant to go to school.

"Alice come on, you get to see Jasper." Rosalie said teasingly. Bad timing of course.

"Alice, you seeing Jasper Cullen?" Charlie asked. We all three froze on the spot.

"Not exactly, we're getting to know each other." Alice said going pale. We didn't know how well dating would go over with Dad.

"Just be careful, the Cullens are nice boys, but the do like to get into mischief every now and then. Plus the girls are all crazy over them." Charlie looked grim, but didn't say anything else.

"I will, that's good to know they're nice, because Bella is seeing Edward and Rose is seeing Emmett."

WHAT THE HELL! We stared at Alice in amazement. Charlie seemed to freeze with eyes as big as saucers.

"Bella, you seeing Edward Cullen?" Way to go Alice.

"Well he's nice and he did say he wanted to get to know me," I said lamely, "what about Rosalie?" I asked.

"Rose can handle herself." I stared at Dad in disbelief.

"Look Bella, I don't want you three getting hurt. Rose, even with the combustible hair incident I know you can handle Emmett, but be careful. Alice, you and Bella haven't had a chance to practice your powers like Rose."

"Plus I'm not seeing Emmett, I just know he likes me. We haven't really decided what we want to call our relationship, and I'm not in a rush to have one either." Rosalie said as the color was returning to her face. She looked relieved. Was there something that Charlie and Rose had discussed?

"Ok, just be careful when it comes to men. Being mermaids, you three can't afford to be careless." Charlie explained. Was it me, or did Rosalie just flinch. Charlie then headed out to work. We waited until he actually pulled away from the house.

"WOW ALICE!" Rose shouted.

"Sorry, I was just so relieved that I didn't realize what I was saying. But it's okay, Charlie is a little nervous, but he's not upset." Alice said, with that glazed over look on her face.

"Um Alice, I really don't want to talk boys with my dad." I informed my cousin. She really looked too happy.

"So Alice, let's get to school." Rosalie said. Alice looked mutinous but went to school just the same.

**Rosalie:**

So Charlie knew about the Cullens, great. I was just glad he wasn't going to be on my case like Bella and Alice.

"So Rosalie, what was going on back there with you and Dad? Why does he feel you can handle being with someone and we can't?" this was Bella, naturally.

"There are some things you don't know and I'm not ready to discuss them." I answered briskly. Maybe too briskly.

"Fine, see you afterschool then." Bella said and walked off to her next class. Lauren wasn't in school, no shock there, but Jessica was. She seemed to be avoiding us, which was fine with me.

"Rose, you promise you won't set someone else on fire?' Alice asked. I just scoffed and headed off to class. I saw Emmett in the hallway and I smiled at him. I guess it must've been overkill because he slammed his hand in his locker. I tried not to laugh. I continued on to class, realizing that I was genuinely happy. I briefly thought of Royce and squelched the thought.

I guess I would have to tell Alice and Bella at some point, but I didn't want them condemning me. I knew I wasn't the best role model, but I still was the oldest, and I felt I had to set some sort of good example. Ok, so setting someone on fire wasn't the best, but I didn't really mean it. It still didn't dismiss the fact that I did it.

I turned to get a good look at Emmett Cullen, he glanced my way and grinned. Those silky curls and those dimples, yes ladies and gentlemen, he would be dangerous for me. I knew this because I never even felt this way for Royce. I needed to tread lightly.

**Alice:**

I went in to Calculus prepared with my homework and ready for the test. I knew I would pass, but that still didn't mean I couldn't study. That was one thing about telling the future. Sometimes when I concentrated on a few specific people, other scenarios completely escaped my attention until too late, and those scenarios usually included me.

I turned in my assignment and I was waiting for the teacher to pass out the tests. I was one of the first to complete the test and so I sat there daydreaming. I day dreamed about mom, and the ocean and a certain blond haired hottie, when the vision slammed into me. I couldn't think, speak or breathe, but what I saw wasn't good.

I heard a scream from somewhere and too late did I realize that I was having a sort of waking vision and the scream was coming from me. I had fallen into a deep trance and was waking up in the middle of my Calculus class. Worse yet, I was on the floor in my Calculus class, I was bewildered and faces of students surrounded me. I noticed the chalk board had shattered, along with the windows and someone was attempting to carry me to the nurse's office. That someone was Jasper.

This wasn't good and I could only hope that Charlie wouldn't hear about it until after school. Then I remembered this morning, I didn't want to go to school and I couldn't put my finger on why exactly, but I now had my answer.

"Alice, wake up!" Jasper was shouting as he carried me quickly to the nurse's office. I felt clammy and of course utterly embarrassed. The nurse was surprised and asked what happened.

"I don't know." I answered weakly. She looked at Jasper for an explanation, he looked just as mystified as me. The nurse looked at me, taking in my pasty pallor and increased breathing, and made a cluck of dismay and tried to send Jasper away. He refused to go.

"Mr. Cullen, Miss Brandon will be fine." She said gently.

"I know, but I want to make sure she gets home safely, the school day is almost complete." He replied. Jasper looked the picture of a model student. My heart melted, but I was still afraid. This scandal was too big to live down, the vision that I saw and now Jasper knowing I'm a total freak. Could this day get any worse? Then Charlie walked into the office. Never ask a question, that either a. you know the answer to, or b. you don't want to know the answer to.


	20. Full Moon

**Ok kids! here's the latest chapter! I hope you enjoy it. In a few more chapters, this fic will officially become mature due to lemons. Thanks for all the reviews! As usual, I don't own anything or any characters of the Twilight Saga.**

**Full Moon**

** New Guy:**

So this was Forks, Washington. I still couldn't believe this hell hole was the demise of my grandfather. I knew I needed to complete my grandfather's work. My father thought I was just as crazy. What else was new? I drove around some more to get a feel for the place… nothin' much but your average podunk American town. Except it wasn't and I knew what I was looking for, may not be here anymore.

"Why so quiet?" Victoria asked.

"I'm just thinking. I did see a for rent sign a while back, maybe we should look at the place. If it has at least two bedrooms, we should be able to take it. Dad said he would foot the bill."

"I'll wake Laurent, he'll whine if we make a decision without him."

"Good. Let's find this interior design business. I heard that the owner had purchased some of the pieces from the family art collection." I replied. I pulled at my pony tail in irritation.

"Let's get a place first, and then set up camp. We can only research once we're settled in." Victoria told me and she shook our brother Laurent to wake up.

"What!?"

"Get up, we're going to look at a house to rent."

**Alice:**

I couldn't believe Charlie and Jasper were here. Together. In the school nurses' office. This was it, I was going to die, and all because of my stupid visions.

"Alice! Are you okay?" This was Jasper.

"Mr. Cullen, I think I can take it form here." Uncle Charlie was not pleased.

"Yes sir." Jasper replied calmly. He carefully kept his face blank.

Uncle Charlie was helping me to my feet, when Rosalie and Bella came running through the door.

"Alice!"

"What happened?"

"I'm fine girls, I think we should wait until we get home." I stressed the last part, hoping they would get my drift. Rosalie and Bella wisely said nothing.

"Bye Jasper" I said. I suddenly felt embarrassed.

"Bye Alice, I'll bring your homework over." He told me. I gave him a small smile and waved. I'm in love. I looked at Uncle Charlie, and he had a strange look on his face. I got the feeling he wished there weren't in boys involved with us at all.

"Do you feel well enough to drive?" Charlie asked.

"Yes, I think I can manage."

"Okay, straight home then." At that we left and it was clear the Bella and Rosalie weren't going to waste any time to get home. In a matter of minutes, we were back home.

I was barely in the front door when,

"Okay, spill it! I don't have all afternoon. Plus we have to figure out damage control!" Rose said impatiently

"Rose, your temper. First we have to find out what set Alice off." Charlie said. Then everyone looked at me.

"They're here." I said. I just didn't know what to do, or where to start.

"Who's here?" Charlie said.

"The three people. I've been having this vision, and right when I was in class, the vision just slammed into me. Those three are here and they're moving to Forks." They all looked at me like I was crazy.

"Why are they here?"

"To finish Dr. Armitage's work." Charlie and my cousins were in total shock.

"Before we get to that, did you know that you emitted a sonar pulse, before passing out?" Rose said after a moment.

"No. Why, what happened?"

"Other than almost blowing are ear drums out, you shattered all the windows in the class room, and a few people were complaining that their cell phone screens were cracked." Rosalie explained.

"I didn't know I could even hear sonar." Bella said while rubbing her ears.

"Charlie, what are we going to do?" I asked. He let out a deep sigh, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Don't worry about it, I'll take care of it." We looked at each other mystified.

"In the mean time, I'll try and find out what's going on in town, if anyone knows of a new family." Charlie left to go back to the station. Just when we were going to pow wow, someone knocked at the door.

Bella went to answer it, and it was Jasper, showing up with my homework. He blushed slightly when he came in.

"Hi everyone." He said "Here Alice, its due in two days." Bella and Rosalie were grinning. Jasper just kind of looked flustered.

"Well I better go."

"Hey Jasper, why don't you and your brothers come over for dinner, say next weekend?" Rosalie asked. Bella and I looked stunned

"What time?" Jasper asked, keeping a straight face.

"Saturday, at seven."

"We'll be there." He said smiling, and then turned and left.

"You mind telling us what that was about?" Alice asked.

"I want to get to know Emmett before the threat that you saw becomes too apparent." Rosalie answered. I should have known, a totally selfless reason.

"You know, we need to be careful over the next few days. The full moon isn't too far off, and this just intensifies our abilities." Alice explained. Poor Bella looked completely nervous.

"What happens during the full moon?" Bella asked.

"Any and everything." Rosalie answered.


	21. Ebb and Flow

Ebb and Flow

**Bella:**

The full moon. It's the one subject that I haven't been able to avoid since Rosalie brought it up the same day as the sonar pulse. Alice has been really pushing swimming and practice of control of my telekinetic abilities. I've learned to have more control over moving water just by thought, but now I've started learning how to move objects that contain water just by thought.

Charlie has even set up a few rules for around the full moon, she as a strict no swimming policy. This seemed to bum out Alice and Rose, I however didn't mind it in the least. Turning didn't scare me so much, but having a tail still creeped me out.

"I still don't understand, what's so big about the full moon?" I asked Rosalie.

"The allure of wanting to be near or in the water is already very great, but during the full moon, it is damn near impossible to resist. Plus our powers are intensified, however our control over them is shaky at best. Besides, being out in the full moon is very tempting."

"Tempting? How?"

"Well, there is a possibility of acquiring new powers during the full moon. The thing is, surviving a night in the full moon can leave you weak, and even mentally unstable." Alice answered

"But why?" I asked.

"This is going to sounds so religious, but this is the best way I can explain it. Water serves two gods, the gods of the sea or water and the gods of the moon. These two are constantly warring over the water. The moon can never fully control the water, because it waxes and wanes. However, obviously when the moon is full, it has the most control as it can possibly have over the water. You know humans act strangely during the full moon, rightly so, since humans are made up of over seventy percent of water, but the effect if twenty times more intense on merpeople, because we not only have the same percentage, but we're also creatures of the water, with special abilities, so everything is heightened." Rose explained.

This gave me a lot to think about. It was the weekend and Alice refused to show her face at school for the remainder of the week. The gossip line was rather interesting.

"I know Alice had a fit, but why did all the windows and stuff shatter in class?" Angela asked as lunch the next day. I almost spilled the beans, but was saved when Rosalie rudely stomped on my foot.

"I have no idea." She answered.

"Is she okay? A lot of the other kids are really worried."

"She's fine, she's just having a hard time coping with her mother's death." Rose answered.

I was still trying to recover from my foot injury. Can anyone blame me, Rose is a very big and strong girl. Her 5'9" frame was nothing to sneeze at when you're only 5'4". We're not even going to get into how she's such a powerful swimmer. After lunch was over I limped back to my locker.

"Sorry about that." Rose said as she approached me. I was getting a few things organized.

"Why did you try to kill my foot?"

"You were going to say something about the sonar pulse. They can't hear sonar, remember?"

"I know, but still." I glared at her.

"Hi Rose." I saw her face turn completely red. I loved watching her reactions whenever Emmett was around. She scowled when she saw my shit eating grin. I then hobbled to biology. I had to admit, Rosalie was a nice distraction, because I almost forgot I was going to see Edward.

**Jasper:**

I went to visit Alice a few times while she was away, mostly to give her her homework assignments. Things were going well, and I was able to remain cool calm and collected in front of her. When I was home, that was another story completely.

"Why are you boys so jittery?" I swear Carlisle asked this question every five minutes, since the day Rosalie invited us over for dinner. We still hadn't told our parents yet.

"School has just been so interesting lately." Emmett said in an attempt to try to sound scholarly and intelligent. Our parents just looked at him.

"I know you three aren't telling us something." Mom has a way of being more to the point than Carlisle.

"So this is what happened in biology class today." Edward started,

"Bella was telling me how she's never been to Seattle, I was hoping I could get your permission to take her in a few weeks.

"Boys?" Mom asked. She had on her soft sweet mom smile, that could get anything out of us.

"We've been invited to dinner at the Swans'." This was Emmett. Everything was silent at the table. Finally Carlisle broke the silence.

"Guys I know you're into these girls but again, don't do anything stupid, I don't want to lose Chief Swan as a friend because you can't keep your pants zipped."

"Carlisle!" Mom cried out.

"Esme, in case you haven't noticed, we have three teenage boys."

"Can we be excused?" I asked. My phone had chirped, and as I read the message, I knew we would have to have a meeting. Things at Forks High were clearly getting weird. Mom nodded, still looking astonished at Carlisle. Once up in Edward's room, I started the meeting.

"I sent a few inquiries about the shattered class incident over to Jane in Seattle. She came back with an interesting answer. She said it sounds like that there was some sort of sonic boom, but since no one heard anything, she said it could have been on a higher impulse, outside of human hearing."

"And the glass was shattered in the same class as Alice, right?" Edward asked.

"Yeah…"

Well that's three for three."

"Yeah." We all said simultaneously.

"Let's take a look at the Armitage info, and see if this all adds up." I said

"Sonar pulses, was mentioned as a form of communication between aquatic creatures. Then the mention of special abilities, so Lauren's hair caught fire in the same class where Rose was scheduled to be, and then the biology lab, where the pipes burst, and Bella's in the class with you. So according to this information here, water manipulation is also mentioned as something mermaids can do." Edward summed up.

"And let's not forget that Chief Swan came for two out of the three incidents." Emmett added. There was a long pause.

"So what we're saying is that the Swan women are mermaids?" I asked

"No, I think Armitage was off his rocker." Emmett replied

"The coincidences are a bit much, but what's our proof? Where's our proof?" Edward asked.

"There are things that point to this being ridiculous. Like it says that mermaids have an uncontrollable need to be in the water. Well we were all at the bon fire at first beach and I didn't see anyone running mad into the water." Emmett added.

"Plus it mentions mermaids eat only seafood. I didn't noticed anything special about the way they ate, or what they ate at the bon fire, or in school for that matter." I also said.

"Then its settled, they aren't mermaids." Edward said. Then why did I get the feeling we still weren't sure.

**Alice:**

We were in trouble. This full moon would be very powerful, especially living in such a moisture saturated place. Personally I didn't know what would get me off more, a secret date with Jasper or a chance to dive into the water at First Beach. The plans for dinner were going well as far as us girls were concerned. However with Charlie, whenever it was mentioned, he would start muttering under his breath, and then disappear.

Rosalie insisted on seafood, since naturally this would be a specialty, but Bella and I agreed it didn't sound like a good idea right now. Plus I was sensing that the boys were closer to guessing than ever. I mentioned this once to Bella and Rose,

"I think we should tell them." I said.

"I'm not ready." Rose said

"I'm in two minds, I'm still trying to grasp the idea myself."

"Look we have to make a decision, and fast. If one of us tells, then the guys are going to know anyway. Seriously could you expect brothers to keep a secret like this to themselves, especially with two being twins! Not likely."

"But what if Emmett is grossed out?"

"I don't think he will be." I said with a smile. Both Bella and Rose rolled their eyes. I must've had my superior knowledge smile on my face, as Rose likes to call it, but it seemed to bug them.

"I wasn't even able to tell my last boyfriend, how am I supposed to tell Emmett?"

"Who was you're last boyfriend? He couldn't handle the long distance?" I smiled teasingly. Bella chuckled, but Rose's face went blank and her eyes went dead.

"I'd rather not talk about it right now." Her tone was so… Empty.

"Rose, we're sorry." Bella said reproachfully.

"Yeah." I answered, but something didn't sit right with me. I wasn't a post-cog, but I knew I could get to the information I wanted. I also wanted Rose to tell me herself.

"Will you ever tell us?" I asked

"Maybe." Was the replied, she looked stricken. I would have to be content with that, however not knowing was going to be a problem, what with the three people that could potentially ruin our lives being somewhere in town.

We had decided on lasagna and homemade garlic bread for dinner. This should make Charlie happy, as there was no possibility of kissing at the end of the night. I didn't admit that my visions with Jasper were getting stronger, and I didn't realize I would have the capability to fuck like a rabbit in heat, but that's exactly what I was doing. Dating is going to be very interesting.


	22. Low Tide

**Low Tide**

**James:**

"Ok. it's a three bedroom house. The equipment comes next week along with the permits. Our cover story; we're marine biology students that are testing samples of some of the water and marine life in the area for our project." I went over, pacing back and forth on the front porch.

"We know! We know! Can't we just take a break for the next few days until the shipment comes? Seriously, I think we need to aim to fit in around here. It could take months before we find out what we're looking for." Victoria whined, pulling her vibrant red hair out of a messy bun and shaking it out.

"I have to agree with her on this one. We need a small break. Besides, if we look too rehearsed, we'll just draw attention. Remember, they will probably spot us, before we spot them." Laurent replied lazily. He look as if he were about to fall asleep again. His body didn't agree with traveling so much.

"Fine, we'll give it until the shipment comes in, but then we're back on a roll." I said, mildly irritated. My siblings could be a source of irritation, but I knew they were right. If I wanted to clear my grandfather's name, I would have to remain calm. Besides, even if the mermaids were still around, there was a slim chance that they would be the same mermaids that my grandfather knew. So I couldn't even go on a full attack. I didn't want to actually. I just wanted to prove my grandfather wasn't crazy. No one had any idea what it was like, going to college, majoring in marine biology, and people knowing that you're the grandson of "that marine biologist that lost him mind over mermaids". They never referred to him by name.

I knew my grandfather was right, because he told me about the places all over the world, where mermaids were seen. I've only visited five, but at one, I finally saw was at dusk, when my brother and sister grew tired of looking and to went back to the hotel. I remember feeling elated, and so stunned. I slowly pulled out the picture I had taken, before she dived into the water. The startled beauty, stared back at me with wide green sea eyes and flame red hair. Grandfather told me not to fall in love with them, because it could end my life. I believed him, but at the same time, I couldn't quite believe that such a beautiful creature would kill me.

**Alice:**

Today was the day. Dinner with the Cullen boys. Charlie was much more surly than usual this morning. I sighed. He didn't take this whole dating thing well at all.

"We need to get to the grocery store right away, especially if I'm going to make the pasta from scratch." Bella stated, while bustling around the kitchen, making a list of items for the shopping trip.

"Hey Bells, I'm going to be in the dining room, cleaning my gun collection." Charlie said nonchalantly, as if he just inquired about the weather. Bella's eyes bulged in shock.

"Charlie, actually, Bella needs you to go to the grocery store and get these items." I said kindly, with a huge smile. I know, I know. I'm a psychic, but I seriously cannot see everything coming. Had I even had a clue Charlie would have tried anything like that, I would have thought of ways to keep him busy sooner.

My poor uncle, march out to his cruiser and sped away. He needed to have a project, and gun cleaning was not the project to take up this particular day.

"Was he serious?" Bella practically screamed.

"Was who serious about what?" Rosalie asked, coming from the back door. She smelled of smoke, actually, she had soot smudges here and there as well. As in wood fire smoke.

"Rose, what have you been up to?" I asked.

"I completed the control exercise that Charlie gave me to do." Rosalie answered, and that's when we noticed the fire extinguisher she attempted to hide behind her.

"What did you do?" I asked, heading for the back yard. Bella wordlessly followed, just as curious as me. We reached the back porch, and all we saw were huge charred bits of wood, and some piles of ash. That was disturbing.

"What was the exercise, exactly?" Bella asked.

"I had to concentrate on burning two logs at the same time, across from each other." Rosalie replied, slightly embarrassed.

"Then why are all the logs burnt to a crisp?" I asked.

"I got upset when I couldn't do it." Rose mumbled, not looking at me or Bella.

"Interesting. Yeah, you need to practice control." Bella said and went back in the house to start preparing tonight's dinner. Rosalie glared in her direction, I just stared at the charred logs.

"Seriously, this could have been Lauren." I said.

"No! Really! Quit being a bitch Alice, don't you think I know that. Charlie is not going to be happy." Rose then headed into the house to take a shower. Once Rosalie left the room,

"Did you see those logs?" Bella asked, while slicing mushrooms.

"Yeah, did you see the fire extinguisher?" I asked, still not quite believing she needed it. Bella just gave me a look.

"Alice, start cutting up the vegetables to make the salad. We need to make sure all the prep work is completed, before we start actually cooking. I guess it will be me and you, because I know Dad is just going to send Rose right back to complete the task, until she gets it right.

"So Alice, anything on the three individuals that are posing a threat?" Bella asked, slyly.

"Maybe, maybe not. Plus I can't discuss that, not without Charlie and Rose. Right now, we're safe for the moment." I said as I rinsed vegetables. Bella just let out a huff. I didn't want anything upsetting tonight. We needed this, because I knew we would have enough to deal with later.

**Bella:**

My mind was on the full moon more than anything else lately. I was up last night reading my family's chronicles, and I wanted to discover if what was in those books was true. I was so far behind Alice and Rosalie, I just wondered if I could risk going out in the full moon. Would I hurt anything or anyone? Could my powers be amplified? The full moon was only days away. I wonder if I could sneak out or stay with Jacob. First Beach would be an ideal spot to test things out.

"Bella, whatever you're thinking, forget about it." Alice said matter-of-factly.

"I hate when you do that." I replied. It was annoying when Alice looked into the future. She basically knew I what I was planning by the outcome of my future.

"Why? I'm just making sure my family is safe."

"Okay then, did I get hurt?" I asked.

"That's not the point, its still not a good idea." Alice balked.

"I'll take that as a no. Do I get stronger?"

"You mean do we get stronger, because you know we have to go after you."

"You come after me? Why?"

"Because, you're still too new. I know you feel behind, but still, that doesn't mean you can rush your new powers. You still have to learn to control the change and water manipulation. You're not ready to take on more powers. Besides, some powers can be rather useless, well not as useful as they once were." Alice replied.

"So, you mean to tell me you haven't gone out during the full moon?" I asked, knowing full well Alice had at some point. I didn't need to be a psychic to know that.

"Never is such an interesting word," Alice replied, trying to worm her way out of this conversation.

"So that's a yes. What power did you acquire?" I asked, but before she replied, I could tell she was having another vision.

"Oh no! Not now!" Alice practically bleated. I was scared at first, but the expression on her face was one of irritation.

"What!"

"Daddy is coming for a surprise visit… with his bitch. I need to figure out what day. You asked about my other power, you'll see when I can pin down when my father comes." Alice replied, and went back to rinsing and cutting up vegetables.

"Ok, now can I clean my gun collection?" Charlie asked, coming in with groceries.

"No dad, you have to go inspect the backyard for Rose's progress." I answered. I knew I shouldn't have thrown Rosalie under the bus, but she did need to learn control and we had to keep Charlie away from his guns. I didn't want to scare anyone, especially Edward.

"Oh, I almost forgot." My dad said calmly. I just stared at him, because Rose could've burned the house down, but of course he hadn't seen the backyard yet. I'm sure that would change,

"Rosalie!" Dad yelled. I smiled, because he would be busy for a while.

**Rosalie:**

I couldn't believe Charlie was making me attempt the exercise again. Emmett was coming soon, and I would need another shower! This time Charlie stayed in the backyard with me. He placed four logs upright in a square.

"Okay. Now Rose, I know you can do this. I want you to set fire, slowly to the logs that were placed east and west. At the same time. I know you can do them one by one, but we need for you to control your temper. Don't get upset, because the task is difficult. Instead, try to find a way to light both logs without burning down the backyard." I knew Charlie was being serious. I felt my frustration and anger building, even before I could attempt to light the logs.

I closed my eyes and tried to calm myself, and once I was as calm as I could be, I thought about fire, and how it felt, and what I wanted it to do. I concentrated on the east and west logs, and thought about how they would look if they were set ablaze. I thought and thought. And then I opened my eyes, and concentrated on those two logs, suddenly, they were smoking. At first just tiny wisps, and then more billowing, gray smoke, and then there were tiny sparks and the logs looked like they were covered in embers. Then suddenly, the east and west logs were on fire. And a controlled fire at that! I couldn't believe it!

"Charlie!" I squealed in delight.

"Excellent. You will practice this exercise, until it becomes second nature. Now concentrate and set the north and south logs on fire, the same way. When you're finished, put out the fires, remove the remains and start again with fresh logs. I'll call you in about two hours." Charlie said. I was no longer smiling. I was fuming, and I guess it showed on my face, because,

"Rosalie, watch your temper." Charlie warned, with a hint of steel in his voice. His face was the picture of serious. I instantly froze. I then realized that my uncle was still very angry with me, about the whole Lauren incident. I gulped and turned back to my assignment. I lit about eight logs before Charlie called me in to get ready for dinner. I was exhausted, but I thought of Emmett, and dragged myself to the shower. I quickly finished and went to my room to get dressed. I must have fallen asleep, because Bella was lightly knocking on my door.

"Rose, what happened?" She asked, once I told her to come in. I was still groggy from sleep.

"I fell asleep. That control exercise was intense." I answered.

"Well, you had better get dressed, the boys are on their way." Bella said. I noticed that Bella had changed her clothes. She wore lose rise jeans with two layered tank tops of blue and cream and earrings. Small black pearl earrings. I grinned. Alice had curled up her hair.

"Ok, give me twenty minutes to pull myself together." I said, when Bella turned to walk out the room. I quickly got dressed in a pair of boot cut jeans and a nice form fitting cable knit sweater in dark blue. I pulled my blonde curls into a low ponytail, and I put on a pair of small blue pearl earrings. I didn't want to look like I was trying too hard, so I put on some mascara and lip gloss and headed downstairs.

The boys were just coming in the door, and I looked over at Alice, who was dressed in jeans as well with a pretty gray off the shoulder top, and creamy pearl earrings.

"Hello Mr. Swan." The boys said in unison, we all giggled.

"Come on in boys, and make yourselves at home." Charlie said, with a weak attempt at looking welcoming. When we giggled, the boys looked over at us, and then that's when I knew. By the goofy grins on their faces, that they really and truly liked us.


	23. High Tide

**HI all! Sorry for the extremely late updates. As per usual, I don't own anything Twilight. I will be updating with more regularity, I hope. Please anjoy the story.**

**High Tide**

**Emmett:**

"Mom, you don't need to make such a fuss." Trying to stop mom, while she's on a rampage is like asking water not to be wet.

"Hush. Here's dessert, and don't forget to pick up flowers. Girls like flowers." Mom said smiling in a way that made me think she was having a pleasant memory.

I kissed mom on her cheek, and grabbed the cake container, holding and old fashioned pound cake.

"Hey Edward, Jazz. Are you two riding with me?" I shouted up stairs.

"Maybe you should go ahead, I have other desserts for the Edward and Jasper to take."

"Mom! There will only be seven people at dinner!" I couldn't believe she baked all these desserts.

"Honey, I don't want your brothers to show up empty handed. Besides, its important to build a good relationship with Chief Swan, as well as the girls. He's very protective of them, so its important to make a good impression." Mom answered. She's always so thoughtful.

I left for the Swan residence, very nervous with a the pound cake and a bunch of roses for Rosalie. It felt a little corny, but I could live with it. I mean, I knew I had to go easy with her. I pulled up to the front of the house, and parked on the street. Suddenly, I was terrified of getting out of the car. The Chief's cruiser was out front, reminding me that he would be there. With his gun. The full realization that Charlie Swan is a cop finally sunk in. He could kill me, bury the body, and no one would question him. Suddenly there was a knock on my jeep door.

"What the fuck man!" I jumped, scared almost out of my wits. Edward and Jasper just stood there grinning.

"Come on man, I'm starving." Jasper said, once I opened the door. I noticed Jasper holding flowers and a pie.

"What kind of pie?" I asked, nodding toward the dessert.

"Apple. What else?" Jasper said, looking at me like I had grown a second head. Edward had walked back to his car to retrieve his dessert and flowers.

"What did mom make for you to bring?" Jasper asked Edward.

"Oatmeal Scotchies."

"Seriously! Mom makes those for this dinner, but she hasn't made them for us in years." I complained.

"Don't worry about that now, we have to go in and impress Chief Swan." Edward reminded us. Jasper groaned, as we trudged up to the door. One would think that we were being lead to our deaths. Edward managed to ring the door bell. Our new current worse nightmare answered.

"Hello boys, come one in." Chief said as he stepped back from the doorway. The first thing we noticed was Alice putting a riffle back in its case. That made us a little nervous walking in. I didn't see Rosalie immediately, but once I glanced towards the stairs, I noticed that she was just coming down as we were walking in. Charlie's Angels looked amazing. Although, I admit that I thought Rosalie was just gorgeous. All I could do was grin.

"Hi guys, Jasper." Alice said smiling. Jazz suddenly snapped out of it.

"Here, these are for you." He said to Alice, handing over the apple pie and a bunch of lilies.

"Oh Jasper, these are beautiful. You didn't have to bring dessert…" Alice started to say, when she realized, we all brought dessert.

"Wow. I don't think we have enough food." Rosalie said smiling.

"Mom insisted." Edward explained as he handed Bella her peonies and cookies. I turned and gave Rosalie her roses and handed over the pound cake.

"It smells amazing in here." Jasper said.

"I hope your hungry, Bella made lasagna." Alice said, while Bella blushed. I noticed Edward looked excited.

"Did Esme make this pie?" Charlie asked. We turned to see Chief Swan with apple pie and ice cream in a saucer. He was clearly enjoying himself.

"Dad! That's for dessert!" Bella looked dismayed. I attempted not to laugh. Then Rosalie walked up to me, and asked me to sit down. Alice followed suit and encouraged Jasper to sit, while Bella scolded her dad for eating dessert. Edward just sort of slid into a seat, while keeping his eyes on Bella and Charlie.

"So how's hockey coming along?" Rosalie asked me. I was stunned and flattered by her question.

"Great, we have out first game in a few weeks. Do you plan on going on for any sports?" I asked her.

"Yeah, I'm thinking volley ball in the spring." She replied.

"You'll be a shoo in for the team. The coach will take on look at how tall you are and beg you to be on the team." I said to her. She laughed at that.

"Yeah, I was pretty good back in New York."

"What was New York like?" I asked her. Her smiled faltered a little.

"It was beautiful, and so different than the Pacific west coast." I noticed she sort of evaded the question. Just like that, Rosalie got more mysterious.

"I was reading an article about an accident that happened up in Rochester, New York. Several teenage boys were found dead at a local park," I stopped as I noticed Rosalie's face turn completely white.

"Rose, are you okay?" Charlie asked, suddenly, appearing besides her.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She replied, taking a deep breath. Some of the color returned to her face. I noticed how Charlie gave me this interesting look.

**Jasper:**

"Why don't we all head to the dining room to eat." Alice said, bouncing up, looking very happy. I looked over at my brothers, and noticed that Emmett looked a little worried, so I took a glance at Rosalie. She looked a little frightened. I glanced back at Emmett and he gave me a small shrug. I hoped Charlie didn't notice it.

We all took our seats, and prepared to have dinner.

"I hope you guys brought your appetite, because Bella's lasagna is the best in the world." Rosalie said, seeming to recover from whatever was bothering her. She went into the kitchen and came back with a pitcher of water, and a pitcher of iced tea. Bella brought in the lasagna and Alice brought in a salad. Once the lasagna was placed on the table, Bella quickly went back to get the garlic bread. No one would be kissing tonight.

Everyone quickly filled their plates and dived into their meals. There was silence at the table, as everyone enjoyed the first several bites of the meal. To say that Bella was a great cook, was an understatement.

"This lasagna is amazing." Edward said, as he went for his second piece. Bella had the grace to blush.

"Bella is teaching me how to cook." Alice piped up, smiling.

"Your grandmother didn't teach you? I thought all grandmothers taught cooking to granddaughters." I said, a little confused.

"Ha! My grandmother is much too much of a socialite to teach me to cook." Alice said a little scornfully. I noticed Charlie glance at Alice quickly.

"So Bella, what's Phoenix like?" Edward asked, noticing the confused look on my face.

"Very hot. Its very dry and a lot of dessert." Bella replied, smiling. Finally a safe subject, or so we thought.

"You probably miss it, with all this rain." Edward offered.

"No, Not at all. I actually like all the rain here, very different scene." Bella replied. At this statement, the Chief, Alice and Rosalie shot Bella, what they thought to be subtle looks. It was Edward's turn to look confused.

"So Chief, catch any good fish lately?" I asked, sensing that seemed to be the only safe subject.

"Yes, keep it frozen for the winter. Any of you boys fish?" Charlie asked.

"No, never had the chance." Edward answered for us. He was being truthful, we had never been taught.

"Maybe I could teach you sometime." Charlie said. At this statement, the Angels swiftly looked at him in unison. My brothers and I looked at each other, because we knew something was very different about the Swan family.

**Edward:**

"You boys tell your mother she did a wonderful job on dessert." Charlie told us, while trying out the pound cake. I swear his appetite rivaled Emmett's.

"We'll tell her, and thanks again for dinner." Jasper answered.

"Yes, thanks again, and have a good night." I said, walking out the door.

"Night chief, bye girls." Emmett said, while bringing up the rear. We had survived dinner at the Swan house. However we had much to discuss. When we got home, we all piled into Jasper's room. Mom and dad were out for the evening.

"What did you guys think of tonight?" Emmett asked first.

"I think there's more going on than meets the eye. Did you see how Alice acted when I brought up grandmother?"

"Well you mentioned before she didn't like the woman." I pointed out.

"Yeah, but I thought that maybe it would be different, you know mentioning the whole cooking thing." Jasper answered.

"Why?" Emmett asked.

"I don't know. Hey Em, what in the world did you say to Rosalie? She looked all paled and scared at one point." I asked.

"I asked her about New York, and if she had heard that story about the teenage boys that were killed. Then she started to look pale. I'm guessing she knows more than she's saying." Emmett answered.

"I would have to say definitely yes. And what was with all the glances they were giving Bella every time she said she liked the rain?" Jasper asked.

"I have no idea." I answered. Again, we got a few answers, but now more questions.

"Oh! Why did they all look panicked about going fishing with Charlie?" Emmett asked. I thought that was a good question.

"Did you notice how the house was decorated? All those maps, and boat models and seafarer stuff?" I asked.

"And where did the Swans get enough money to get black pearl earrings?" Jasper asked.

"Who had black pearl earrings?" I asked.

"Bella. I asked her about them, thought they were unusual. She said they were a family heirloom. That's quite and heirloom." Jasper said.

"Well, the Swans did have some sort of jewelry store in the past, maybe that's what she got them from." I answered.

"But black pearls? They can be very expensive." Jasper answered.

"I say we follow them tomorrow, I mean its Sunday tomorrow, right? Why not see what they do in their free time." Emmett suggested.

"That sounds a little stalkerish." I said.

"Yeah, but we're not getting answers. We could always take an old car to Billy Black and ask a few questions." Emmett said.

"That sounds like a better idea." Jasper replied.

"Yeah, sounds like a plan." I answered. So we were all agreed. Off to Billy's tomorrow for another question and answer session.


	24. Rip Tide

**Here's the latest chapter. I hope you all enjoy! Thanks for all the reviews! **

**Rip Tide**

**Rosalie:**

"What did you say to Emmett when he asked you about Rochester?" Alice asked. I could tell she was trying to figure things out.

"She didn't say anything, she just turned white as a sheet, and suddenly the subject was changed." Bella supplied.

"What is it with you?" I asked, highly irritated.

"I was scared to say something, but I noticed my hearing has improved. Greatly." Bella confessed.

"Really? Wow." Alice answered. I was speechless.

"Heighten hearing. I've been wondering why you been able to put two and two together so well. Which reminds me, tomorrow, we're going to have you practice water manipulation." I finally managed to choke out. Bella groaned.

"I don't feel like going to First Beach." She whined.

"We're not going to First Beach." I answered.

"Where am I supposed to practice, then?"

"In the kitchen. Don't worry, I'll have everything set up tomorrow morning." I answered. I knew Bella and Alice were wondering what I was up to. I just smiled and walked back to my room. I was glad Bella confessed to her new hearing abilities, because I was off the hook for one more night. Now it was inevitable, I would have to explain what happened in Rochester.

**Alice:**

MY daddy was coming for a visit, and I just wasn't interested in seeing him. He seriously thought I would just be okay with his new family. I slowly walked to my room, and pulled out the letters Charlie had discreetly placed in my room. They were from various relatives, but mostly my grandmother. I still didn't want to read them, because honestly, I couldn't possibly know what they wanted to discuss. The only thing that came to mind, was my father's marriage. Then I was slapped with a vision. Of course my father married already, but it was a civil ceremony. He wants me to attended the actual pomp and circumstance ceremony. Well forget it! He conveniently forgot about me and my mother all those years, throughout my recitals, and commencement ceremonies, and plays.

I just couldn't bring myself to go to his wedding, especially with so much at stake here in Forks. No, I would just have to miss the wedding. My dad would survive. I placed the letters back in the drawer, when I noticed other papers in my drawer. They were the written titles of books. The books by Dr. Armitage! Surely they would've been checked in my now. I made a mental note to take a walk to the library tomorrow afternoon. I was momentarily happy with myself, until I thought about the letters some more.

I figured if I read them, then I may have a better idea of when my father would come for a visit. I hated the idea of reading those letters, so instead I decided to concentrate on my visions. I didn't want to worry about too many things at once, because it could be overwhelming. I figured I would know about the Armitage books tomorrow, so that wasn't a huge deal. But my daddy visiting was huge, right up there with Bella's training, and the three strangers. I still felt like I was missing something, that was glaring me in the face, after tonight's dinner. I would think of it later.

"Bella," I knocked on her door softly.

"Yes Alice, I'm up." Bella replied.

"You really want to go out during the full moon?" I asked.

"Well, I'm torn about that."

"OK, I promise to take you out in the full moon, only if you go to First Beach four times a week, starting this week for the next month." I said.

"Alice, what are you up to?" Bella asked me, she was suspicious.

"You'll find out next month. This month, stay inside." I said, and walked back to my room.

**Bella:**

I wondered what went on in Alice's mind at times, and this was definitely one of those times. Why did she want me out in the full moon now? Well, she did want me to get stronger, obviously, or shouldn't have promised something so huge after only training for a month. So I really wondered what she was up to.

I also wondered what Rosalie was hiding. That story Emmett mentioned was a huge clue, but I just didn't know to what. Clearly the death of those teenage boys affected her on some level. What did she know about that incident? Then there was Edward. Why did he like me, and where did he fit in as far as my "new life"?

So much was going on, it was a wonder I was maintaining my grades, but I guess this is the way life was going to be for a while. I finally drifted off to sleep.

"Bella!" Rosalie yelled as she banged on my door, the next morning.

"Come on, Rose. Its Sunday!" I moaned and pulled the covers over my head.

"Bella! Kitchen! Now!" Rose said through the door. I heard her head downstairs. I groaned, knowing that she would come and drag me downstairs. I got up, brushed my teeth and got downstairs. Once I entered the kitchen, I noticed that there were water glasses and jars scattered all over. Some full of water, others completely empty. I stopped and looked over a Rosalie. By now Alice had joined her.

"What's all this?" I asked.

"Your water manipulation exercise. I want you to pull the water from the full container, to the corresponding empty container. For instance, this wine glass full of water to the matching empty wine glass. You get the idea, so on and so forth. Go one at a time. When you finish, two at a time, until you can transfer all at the same time." Rosalie said smilingly.

"You stole this idea from my father." I stated.

"You need the practice." Rosalie was merciless.

"Do I really need the practice?" I asked.

"Yes, seeing as how you don't really need to practice at advanced hearing. Water manipulation is something we all have the ability to do, and you need to practice it. You'll come into other powers over the next months and years, and each power you acquire, you will have to practice." Rosalie explained.

"Well, what other powers do you have?" I asked.

"You mean other than water manipulation and fire starting?" She answered.

"Yeah."

"I can control certain elements of the weather, among other things." Rosalie replied.

"Alice? And you?"

"Bella, I already told you, you'll find out when daddy comes."

"Come on! Even then I know you'll only use one other power at most." I pleaded.

"Well, I can control certain aspects of the weather as well. I'm surprised you haven't discovered your other natural abilities." Alice was deflecting. I would allow it at for now, considering that I was still trying to discover things about myself.

I went about the practice activity Rosalie set up for me, and I had to admit that it was much harder than I thought. I could barely transfer the water from the full containers to the empty ones, one at a time. To try and move past that was just ridiculous. I ended up making a huge mess in the end. Rosalie, without a second thought, raised her hands in the air and all the water in the containers and on the floor and on the counter and table flew up in mid air. With one flick of the wrist, all the water went flowing into the sink and down the drain. I had to admit, it was impressive to watch.

"Wow." Was all I could manage.

"And that's why you practice." Rosalie responded.

"That was good, but this is better." Alice said as she walked over to the sink and turned the water on. She encouraged the running water to flow towards her hands. Once Alice had consolidated, what looked like a ball of water, she began to mold it and shape it into a beautiful swan. Once the swan had taken shape, Rosalie then froze the water, and they both carried it to the marble counter top. It was the most magnificent and intricate ice sculpture Bella had ever seen.

"That is impressive!" I really was impressed, because I was no where near that accomplished with my new found discoveries.

"We'll practice again this week. We really have to step up with those three strangers showing up." Rose said, while walking out of the kitchen and back to her room.

"I'm off to run errands, I'll be back in a few hours." Alice said as she headed for the door.

"Tell Jasper I said hello." I said playfully. Alice had the grace to blush.

**James:**

"I heard the there's an interior decorator that made a few purchases container some of grandfather's collection." Victoria said, while walking into the kitchen, arms full groceries, followed closely by Laurent. I stopped what I was doing immediately.

"Did you get the name of the shop?" I asked.

"No, I was eavesdropping, I didn't want to be obvious. Seriously, this is a small town, it shouldn't be too hard to find." Victoria replied. Laurent went straight to putting up all the groceries and making lunch for himself at the same time.

"We should wait until Monday, I'm sure the shop isn't even open today." Victoria said, reading the look on my face. I sighed and went back to reading grandfather's notes. I hoped my equipment would arrive this week, so that I could take inventory and make sure everything was there. I figured it would be at least a good two weeks before we could head out towards the beaches to start our "sample" collections. I was getting impatient, but still, I knew time would be my best friend.

**Emmett:**

"Carlisle, I'm heading over to Billy's. I need some info on some of the cars we're rebuilding." I said to dad while I was shoveling cereal down my gullet.

"That's fine. I'll be gone most of the day, and your mother is going to investigate a few estate sales. Your brothers mentioned working on a project this afternoon as well." Dad said to me. He didn't know the project was going to Billy's house with me.

"Sound good. I'll see you later tonight. Take care." dad said walking out the door. I sighed in relief. He didn't seem suspicious at all, then again if I told Dad what we were thinking, he would have us under psychiatric evaluation. Once I finished breakfast, I went back upstairs and reread the story about the group of teenage boys that were found drowned this past summer. The story mentioned his parents, where he grew up, and the school he attended. The school he attended. I pulled up the info that Jasper has snagged on Rosalie when they first arrived in Forks. The high school names matched up. Rosalie knew this boy, and I couldn't shake the feeling that she knew him very well. I suddenly was consumed with irrational jealousy, but quickly squelched it. The guy was dead, what else could happen?

"So when are you going to Billy's?" Jasper asked.

"Soon. So I went back over that story about the tragedy in Rochester New York. I think Rosalie knew the guys involved, and that's why she looked so sick when I asked her about it. Jasper seemed to think about this.

"I'm ready to go." Edward said, coming into my room and plopping down on the bed.

"Okay, give me like ten minutes to get dressed. I was still in my boxers and a t shirt. Shortly after getting dressed, we had all piled into my jeep and headed out toward the rez. I called ahead, and Billy said he would be there.

"I hope that jerk Jacob isn't there." Edward muttered.

"Hey, healthy competition never hurt anyone." Jasper said smirking.

"I will castrate your ass, so shut the hell up." Edward shot back, I had to laugh. I've never known Edward to behave like this before, and I found it refreshing and interesting.

"Edward, Bella likes you, I wouldn't worry about Jacob." I intervened before Jasper died an early and untimely death. Before I knew it, we were pulling up in front of the Black home. We hopped out and headed straight for the garage.

"Hello Emmett, I hope I can be of some help to you." Billy said as I walked up to his wheelchair to shake his hand in greeting. I showed Billy the manual to the car I was able to find.

"Impressive, a 1970 Datsun 240z. Very nice. Let's see what you have circled inside." He said smiling. I waited, because I knew it would only be a few more seconds before Billy noticed the note. As if on cue, Billy pulled the folded note out of the car manual, and read it. The look on his face, saying many different things.

"Why the fascination with mermaids, son. You seem to be a sensible boy." Billy remarked.

"Because, we think the Swan girls are mermaids." Edward replied. We hadn't heard him and Jasper come in, as they were sort of hanging on the outside of the garage not that long ago. I was stunned at Edward's blunt statement, but hearing him say it out loud helped me to realize that that's exactly what I believed. I looked at Jasper and Edward and then back at Billy. The look on Billy's face said it all.

"That's an interesting observation." Was all Billy said.

"We didn't see them do anything really obvious, other than the three incidents, but the link between the Armitage family and the Swan family is what made us the most curious." Jasper tried to explain.

"The three incidents?" Billy asked.

"Well this one girl's hair caught fire. some girl that takes classes with Rosalie. Then while Edward was in class with Bella, the water pipes burst for no apparent reason, and then the incident with Alice. She blacked out, but not before windows, tv screens and computer monitors and even cell phone screens all shattered. They even said the chalk board in that room cracked in several places." I explained.

"The only thing I can tell you, is that you have to let them tell you themselves, things will go much easier that way." Billy said.

"Easier for who?" Jasper asked.

"For you, if you value your life. I know the Swans, and I doubt they would be so upset over you figuring out what they are, but there are certain rules a man must remember when dealing with mermaids." Billy answered.

"There are rules?" I asked.

"They really are mermaids?" Edward asked.

"Yes and yes. The first rule you have to remember is that, once a mermaid falls in love with, then she loves you for life, so you had better be damned sure she is the one. Because if not, you just can't leave and go on to the next girl. It doesn't work that way for them. They are deeply emotional creatures." Billy explained. I found that I felt slightly frightened. Would Rosalie do anything to harm me? Well she had already slapped me, but that was to get away from me…

"You must always be honest with them, they know when you're lying. Steer clear of them on the full moon, because strange things happen. They are vain by nature, so any material love tokens you give them, must capture the imagination. You must also remember that the water is their first love, so you must accept who they are in their true form." Billy went on.

"Ok, what I don't understand, is why aren't they in the water all the time? Why don't they change during the rain?" Edward asked.

"Because they've learned to control the shift. We'll talk more tomorrow, but if you want to get anywhere with the Swan women, then you let them know that you are open minded and accepting. If you can't handle the idea of your girlfriend being a mermaid, then I suggest you look for your female companionship somewhere else. That's all I can give you for today." Billy said.

"Will we ever be able to see them as mermaids?" I asked. Billy seemed thoughtful for several moments, before replying.

"She will have to trust you implicitly, in order for you to see her in her true form." And that was that. Billy was back to talking about the Datsun.


	25. Blood Moon

**Hi gang. Sorry about the delay in the update. Work has been a little crazy. Thanks for those of you that have added this story to their favorites list and of course a huge thanks to those that take the time to write reviews, they are greatly appreciated. As usual, I own nothing Twilight. I hope you enjoy this latest chapter.**

**Blood Moon**

**Alice:**

"Here's all the books on Dr. Armitage." I said coming through the front door and dropping them on the coffee table with a satisfying thump. Rosalie walked into the living room in full yoga gear, grabbing one of the books and plunked down on the leather sofa.

"Looks like we have serious reading to do." Rosalie said, absorbed in a biography about the marine biologist. There were at least five other books on the table.

"Where's Bella?" I asked, settling in to start reading.

"I'm here. Glad you two are here, I have a few questions." She was holding the family mermaid chronicles. This was going to get very interesting, very fast.

"What's up?" Rosalie asked.

"Can you two explain the moons?" Bella looked thoroughly confused. Rosalie and I looked at each other. It was obvious we didn't expect this question at this point.

"Oh wow. The moons. Well, um…that was incredibly fast. Well, certain civilizations have names for moons, because they go by the lunar calendar. Mermaids follow the Celtic lunar calendar, because we are supposed to observe the old religion. Its also used to dictate when it's the best time of year for certain activities. Keep in mind, some of those activities are obsolete. The other reason we focus on the lunar calendar, is because of the push and pull of the moon over the water, and how we count the passage of time." I explained, attempting to keep form blushing. Bella noticed my blushing.

"What aren't you telling me?" Bella asked. Rosalie sighed and continued to explain.

"Sex rituals are also observed, if you have a significant other. It practically can't be helped, its who we are." She explained. Bella went completely ashen.

"S-s-sex rituals? Like what kind of sex rituals?" Bella asked.

"Nothing serious, but on Halloween, you don't trick or treat, you basically fuck all night long, the same on Easter. The chronicles should explain in greater detail as you read them." Rosalie stated. Bella's eyes were huge in her head.

'But Charlie…" Before she could finish

"That's part of the reason why Charlie is nervous about us dating." I finished.

"Would he…"

"Let the Cullen boys have their way with us on designated days? Yes. Right here, in the house if needed." Rosalie finished. Bella suddenly sat down abruptly, she was completely dumbfounded.

"Bella, if you and Edward fall in love, you will have sex with him. A lot. Mixed creatures are very very sexual beings, you need to understand this." I tried to explain. She had no idea.

"Yeah, just ask my parents. I've heard my Dad tell my Mom that he's not a machine, many times." Rosalie explained, looking nauseous.

"Rose, that was a bit of an overshare." I said, looking at Bella's reaction. I was worried for Bella.

"I can't believe Charlie will permit this." Bella choked out.

"He will permit it, but I don't think he will be around to hear anything." I said.

"So have you two ever…"

"had sex? No, I haven't." Rose answered.

"Neither have I." I answered.

"So how do you know?" Bella asked, still stunned.

"Because its inevitable. Mom explained this when she had the sex talk with me. Its part of the reason she seemed to fall into a decline when she realized Daddy truly didn't love her. Don't get me wrong, Mom made Daddy pay in certain ways, its part of the reason why the Brandons hate me so much, but that's what happens when you cross a mermaid. But I digress. Mom explained that it physically hurt when Daddy began to pull away from her, and when he found out what she was, well that's a story for another day." I explained.

"Yeah, ironically, the whole sex life of a mermaid was the only thing my mother was willing to discuss," Rosalie explained, "I think she wanted me to be prepared more than anything. She even told me she had petty cash available, specifically for condoms and such if I bring a boy home. She told me if I ever brought someone home, that I would have to be discreet, because Dad couldn't handle the concept of his teenage daughter having sex under his roof. Thanks goodness Dad never brought it up."

Bella looked lost, and I had not a clue as to what to say to her, so I just didn't say anything, but buried myself into one of the books about the local history of Forks.

"Okay, so what happens during the Blood Moon?" Bella asked after a long while. Rosalie and I looked at each other, deciding who should speak. Finally Rose piped up.

"Well since most people agree that the Blood Moon falls in October, so symbolizes hunting season. Mer families set up their own traditions, and for those that lived on land, join in the hunting season with regular humans. Mer families that lived closer to some sort of body of water, would fish and smoke the fish and store their catches for winter, and of course those that live only in the water hunted anything from treasure to humans. Humans for their own pleasure, either sexual or murderous."

"Murderous?" Bella squeaked.

"Yes. There are wild mer-people hunt humans in order to drown them for sport. I've even heard of some areas where mer-people actually kill and eat humans, but I've never been able to get Mom to tell me anything really. However, for our family, in order for the women to keep busy while the men went on hunting trips, they went treasure hunting and pearl diving." Rosalie answered.

"Eat people?" Bella rasped in shock.

"Yes. The history of mermaids of mer-people is very sketchy, but there are some things we learn, that don't seem to go away and cannibalism is one of those subjects. We're not exactly sure why some chose to live on land or just near the water, but usually the wild mermaids live very remote places. Lets not focus on that just yet, but focus on our own family history and now the moons, because those subjects are what's going to matter in our immediate future." I jumped in. Bella was white as a sheet.

"Hey, the history of our kind is really not very pretty, even some of the fiction is depressing. Read the original story of The Little Mermaid. I've always hated the story, but Disney made it palatable. Our culture is something that you have to get used to. That's why you need to know as much as possible." Rosalie said to Bella. After that, we all settled down and started our research on Dr. Armitage.

**Rosalie:**

"I'm going to finish this upstairs." Bella said, taking one of the books up to her room. I knew she was trying to absorb what she had heard this evening. I noticed Alice pretend to be absorbed in the book she was attempting to read.

"Have a goodnight!" We both said at the same time. Even after Bella descended the stairs, we waited until she was settled and quiet in her bed. Then we started talking.

"Rose, she's already asked about the meaning of the moons. Plus I think we told her too much." Alice said, worrying her bottom lip.

"We? You told her too much. Cannibalism? Really? She's barely able to grasp that she's a mermaid, and you go straight to one of the more darker natures of being a mermaid." I replied.

"Well, I guess once I started talking, I just was on a roll." At least Alice had the grace to look sheepish.

"So, if we're all serious about the Cullens by the end of this month, Charlie will clear this house faster than we can think." I added.

"Can you really see Charlie letting this happen?" Alice asked.

"Begrudgingly, yes." I answered. We were quiet for a few moments, when Charlie walked in from his weekend fishing trip with Billy.

"Hey Charlie, catch anything?" Alice asked.

"Halibut were biting like crazy today." Charlie said, open a cooler her was carrying.

"I'll go and prepare those out in the shed." I said, grabbing the cooler from my uncle. Alice flitted over to help me.

"I'll help Rose." She said.

"Great, I get the TV all to myself!" Charlie said, heading upstairs to clean up, before settling down to watch ESPN. Once Alice and I were in the shed, we continued our conversation.

"I think Halloween is a bit soon to have sex, don't you think?" Alice asked.

"I agree, we'll need to tread lightly for the next few weeks. School is turning into a circus, the Cullens are definitely interested, and then the three suspicious characters in Forks. Have I covered everything?"

"Don't forget about Bella's training." Alice replied.

"How could I forget. I suggest we head out to La Push after school tomorrow. We really need to get Bella up to speed. We also need to discuss what happened to you in Rochester." Alice said. The last part she attempted to add without appearing obvious. It didn't work.

"Alice, I told you. I'll tell you when I'm ready." I really didn't want to tell my cousins at all.

"Rosalie. Now would not be a good idea to have secrets from each other. There's just too much going on." Alice retorted.

"Fine. I'll tell you. You know," I started, but Alice interrupted.

"Wait, don't you want to tell Bella as well?" Alice looked concerned. I really had to think about what I was going to reveal, especially after what we revealed to Bella only a few hours ago.

"Ok, let's go and wake her up." I said. We got cleaned up and headed to Bella's room. I knocked on the door, and she replied almost immediately, so we walked in.

"I thought you were asleep." I said, taking in the sight of Bella diligently doing her homework.

"Yeah, I'm a little behind on assignments, considering how things have been going lately." She answered.

"So what's going on?" Bella looked shuttered, almost nervous.

"She's going to tell us what happened in Rochester." Alice answered. Bella looked back at me in surprise.

"Ok. You know the story about the group of guys that were found dead?" I asked.

"Yes." They both answered, looking very eager and scared at once.

"I killed them, by drowning them." I said very quickly. I had my eyes squinted shut. Silence. Absolute silence. So I slowly opened on eye, then the other. Alice and Bella just stared at me with their mouths hanging wide open.

"You two have nothing to say." I stated.

"Well, I'm not totally surprised." Alice responded after a few moments. Bella was still quiet.

"They were going to gang rape me." Once again, shock and surprise covered the faces of my cousins

"What happened exactly?" Bella asked, when she found her voice.

"We went out to a local beach, and the guys started drinking. I was already uncomfortable, being the only girl, but Royce insisted that everything was fine. Suddenly, Royce suggested that I sleep with all of them. I knew he was drunk, by even suggesting the idea. When I refused, they started to attack, so I ran for the water. Once they were all in, I drowned them." I explained.

"Oh man, no wonder you wanted to move here. I would leave Rochester after that, myself." Alice commented.

"Rose, I'm really sorry." Bella offered.

"It's fine, I mean, I didn't see it coming, and I had no choice. I don't think they would have left me alive." I felt relief, but I also felt anxious. Its hard being the oldest, and I just don't want Bella and Alice thinking horrible things about me. Believe me when I tell you, taking someone's life isn't easy. I took six lives. Yeah, they were assholes, but they were still living creatures, and I still felt unbelievably guilty.

"Rose, don't feel bad about this! They tried to kill you." This was Alice, of course. It must be nice to be able see things so black and white. Bella remained quiet, however I knew she just needed time to mull over things at this point. My secret was out, now I just needed to learn to cope. Would it be embarrassing to consider therapy? And how would I go about it, without admitting to murder? I guess that would be another conversation for another day.

**Bella:**

I actually had a migraine. Once my cousins left my room, I put my books away, took two aspirin and turned out my lights. I stared at the dark ceiling, thinking about what would happen at school the next day. It was a long time before I finally fell asleep.

MnmNmnmNmn

School was different today. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but the one thing that really stood out was Edward and his brothers. They were far too subdued. It wasn't until lunch, that I really noticed how off key there were behaving.

"Hey Bella." Edward said, as he pulled up a seat next to me, at our table. Emmett and Jasper joined him shortly after his arrival. Angela was blushing beyond belief, Alice immediately began flirting with Jasper, and Rosalie was trying not to look extremely pleased that Emmett was catering to her needs. I sat there, like an idiot, blushing like Angela, while Edward switched between eating his lunch and staring at me. Everyone else in the cafeteria was staring at out table. Jessica and Lauren had found a new lunchtime residence.

"Angela, when is your boyfriend coming back up from UW?" Jasper asked.

"In a few weeks, I think." She squeaked, trying to take in everything that was happening.

"Cool, we should all get together and hang out." Jasper replied, giving Angela a winning smile. Angela blushed harder and crammed a cookie in her mouth and nodded her head vigorously.

"Hey, you ladies want to come over and study after school? Angela, you're more than welcome to join us." Emmett asked. I thought it was sweet that the boys were including our friend.

"I'd love to, but I have to prepare for the church's fall open air market. You know, the one that's held in the basement of the church." Angela replied, sounding a bit annoyed.

"We can't either, we have plans." Alice explained.

"Plans?" Edward asked. Was it me, or did he just look at his brothers, as if he knew something.

"Yes, we're going to visit Billy and Jacob." Rosalie answered. Edward scowled immediately, but Jasper and Emmett seemed to be giving off an air of repressed excitement.

"I'm sure Jacob wouldn't mind if you reschedule," Edward started, but Rosalie interrupted. "Sorry, Edward, but this is something we have to do."

"We understand, do you think perhaps the three of you would like to come to dinner at our house? This weekend?" Emmett asked. It was strange how such a large and handsome guy could look like an adorable nine year old, when he wanted something.

"Ok!" Alice and Rosalie said in unison. I had to figure out how they did that, it was becoming a bit much.

"What time should we be there?" Alice asked. I could already tell she was picking out ensembles for herself, me and Rose. I guess I had better get a good start on my homework this weekend.

"Around four thirty. What do the three of you do out at La Push when you're visiting the Blacks?" Edward asked. Jasper and Emmett were paying rapt attention to our responses, and once again, I got the feeling something was off.

"Surfing." Rosalie replied without missing a beat. Was it me, or did all three brothers glance at each other and start smirking. I looked questioningly at Alice and then back at Edward. She followed my eyes, and just caught the look on Edward's face, right before he carefully blanked his face again. She glanced back at me, with look of mild surprise. Rosalie was busy smiling at something Emmett was whispering to her. Finally the bell rang and the next thing I knew, I was being dragged down the hallway by Alice. It all happened so fast.

"They know something!" Alice all but screeched when she dragged me into the nearest restroom.

"No, really? I hadn't noticed." I replied. I knew I really needed to work on the sarcasm, but sometimes I felt it was needed.

"Bella, be serious. They know, I just know it!" Alice replied. I had to admit, the thought of Edward knowing was unnerving.

"Well, why don't we just tell them?" I suggested.

"What if they don't like us, after they find out?" Alice asked.

"If you think they know, I really don't think that's a problem. Emmett just asked us all to dinner. At their home. To meet their parents." I said, breaking the invitation down in bits, just in case it escaped her attention. Alice looked at me with a mixed expression. I just don't know what she was thinking.

"Bella, I'm just scared. No one outside of my family knows what I am, what we are. Its like that for almost all mermaids." Alice explained.

"Cleary that's about to change. Why are you so surprised? Didn't you see this coming?" I asked.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean I know how everything happens." Alice was exasperated. I didn't have a reply to that.

"Bella, this could be huge! Not just one, but three people, outside of our family knowing who and what we are!" Alice was headed into panic mode.

"Alice, I'm just as scared as you are, but there isn't anything we can do about now if they know. I recommend the only solution. Come clean." I said. It made sense to me. Alice looked as me as if I was currently "wearing" my fins.

"I wish my mother were here, she would know what I was feeling, she would know what to do." Alice whispered, as tears pooled in her eyes. It was the first time I had seen Alice show any signs of being upset about her mother's death. I pulled her into a hug, wishing I knew what to say. Before I knew it, the bell sounded to alert us that we were officially late for class. I let Alice go, with the promise that we would talk about this when we were home for the evening. However on a good note, I was happy we were late, this meant that Edward wouldn't have a chance to speak with me when I got to class.

**Edward:**

I found it convenient that Bella came into class late today. I wanted to ask her a few questions, but that really wasn't going to be possible.

"Nice of you to join us Miss Swan, please don't make this a habit." Mr. Banner said to Bella as she handed him a hall pass. How in the world did she con Mrs. Cope into giving her one?

"Hi" I whispered. Bella just gave me a shy wave back. Banner was talking about some boring project that would be due in a few weeks. I didn't care to listen, because he passed out instructions on the what, when, and how of the thing.

"Bella" I whispered, close to her ear, hoping no one noticed. I was surprised to she her shiver slightly and blush. She passed me a note instead.

"Yes?" the note read. I almost laughed out loud. Bella became more interesting with each interaction.

"Can we join you at First Beach?" I scribbled quickly. I noticed Bella's face pale slightly, and wondered what would make her have such a reaction.

"Maybe not today, we'll make plans to go to First Beach some other time." Was her reply. I felt my jealousy rise, at the thought of Jacob Black getting to spend time with Bella so freely, while it seemed I never got a chance to see her outside of school. I noticed Bella peeking at me now and then from the curtain of hair concealing her face. I wondered not for the first time, what was going on in that head of hers. All too soon class ended.

"Bella, wait." I said, before she bolted out of the classroom.

"Yeah?" She asked again, fidgeting nervously. Did I make her nervous?

"I just wanted to ask you, when will we be able to spend more time together?" I was surprised that I had to ask that question. I've never had to work so hard to get a girl to spend time with me before. I wasn't the only one who was surprised, because Bella looked absolutely shocked.

"I-I-I don't know how to answer that," Bella replied, she seemed genuinely confused.

"Look, I really like you. I want to know more about you, I want to spend time with you to get to know you. I guess what I'm asking you is, do you want to be my girlfriend?" It's official. I'm pathetic. I couldn't help myself. Once I got started, I couldn't stop. It also didn't help to know that she would be spending her afternoon with Jacob Black. Suddenly, I had an idea.

"Your girlfriend?" Bella replied, completely thrown.

"Yes. I want you to be my girlfriend. Please." She looked a little frightened, but then again, I guess I must of looked pretty intense.

"Ok." She whispered, staring back into my eyes, almost as if she were in a trance.

"So, I'll see you Saturday? Remember, four thirty." I said, and before I knew what I was doing, I leaned in a kissed the tip of her nose. I heard a few audible gasps, and I knew, before even turning around, we had an audience. I whirled around to see several girls looking at us. We must have stirred a bit of attention, talking so long in the classroom and all.

"Wait until Jessica hears about this!" Someone said, followed by the sound of running feet.

"Wow. We won't even get a chance to tell anyone ourselves." Bella said.

"Guess not." I added.

"I better get going." Bella said.

"Oh wait! Can I get your phone number?" I asked.

**Emmett:**

I was on my way to my car when I noticed Rosalie getting ready to get into hers. Right before I could speak to her, my phone chirped. It was Edward with one of his _brilliant_ ideas. This time however, I had to admit, it was an excellent idea.

"Hey Rose." I said, as I made my way to my jeep.

"Hi." She answered with this inviting smile. I smiled back like an idiot before I remembered that I actually had to ask her something.

"Hey I wanted to know, if we could go out on a date." I stated like a fool. Rosalie blinked rapidly a few times before letting out a nervous giggle. She actually giggled.

"Ok, when?" She asked, blushing slightly.

"How about we aim for a day after you meet my parents?" I answered. I felt like a complete dork. My palms were sweaty and I felt overheated. It was then that I realized that I had never actually brought a girl home with the intent to date. I'd never had a serious steady girlfriend before, and I was a nervous wreck.

"Ok, here's my cell number. I gotta get going. Bye Emmett." She said sliding into her car. I watched her drive away, and I waited until she was out of sight, before I scrambled to my car to head home. I had a feeling that following through with Edward's idea, might yield results.

"Hello Emmett." Mom said as I rushed into the door leading into the kitchen. The best room in the house.

"Hi Mom." I replied heading straight for the fridge.

"Honey, there are some snacks on the counter." Mom said. I turned and was disgusted to find vegetables and dip. I pulled a horrified face.

"Emmett, you need to try and cut down on the junk food."

"But Mom, vegetables before dinner?" Was she serious?

"Ok, I'll make a deal. You eat a handful of these veggies, and I'll give you a kitchen sink cookie." She drove a hard bargain, kitchen sink cookies are my favorite. So without another word, I grabbed a handful of celery, baby carrots and tossed them on a small plate with dip. Mom then forked over the cookie. I headed upstairs, munching on my healthy snack and headed into my room. Jasper was already waiting for me.

"Where the hell is Edward?" He asked.

"Probably with Bella." I replied.

"Mom got you with the carrots as well?" he asked, looking resigned.

"Yes, but its Mom, what else did you expect? Where are your veggies?" I asked, cramming celery and carrots into my mouth.

"I ate them already. She made me eat them in front of her." I choked on my snack with laughter. While I was laughing, Edward walked in with a plate of the healthy snack, and a kitchen sink cookie.

"So this idea," Jasper started, cutting straight to the chase, "What do we?"

"We head down to Billy's with more questions about our car projects. We got the parts and info we needed for the Datsun, we could ask about the Camaro." Edward replied.

"Sounds like a good idea, we need to make it convincing." I replied.

"That shouldn't be a problem, we'll just make sure we have our work clothes on." Jasper relied.

"I hope they don't get upset with us. You know what Billy said, it best if we let them tell us." Edward reminded us. We were silent for a few moments.

"You think we should go?" Jasper asked.

"Hell yeah! I'm tired of being sidelined, I want to get things started with Rosalie already." I answered, looking over at Edward.

"Yeah, I think we sort of need to push the issue in order to get things going." He said. I couldn't argue with that. So we all get ready, and about forty-five minutes later, we had piled up in my jeep with out work gear, car manual and notebook. I always enjoyed the drive down First Beach, it was scenic and relaxing.

"Hey, let's drive by the cliffs and see if anyone is jumping today." Jasper suggested. Seemed like a good idea to me.

**Jasper:**

I was momentarily happy in my own little world, thinking about the conversation I had with Alice at her locker earlier today. I glanced out the window, knowing I had to have looked like a lovesick idiot.

Had I known what we would see at the cliffs, I wouldn't have suggested going passed.

"What the fuck!" I yelled at the sight before me. I was immediately yanked from my dream world into the real world, and let me tell you. What I saw, scared the shit out of me.

Edward and Emmett looked over at the cliffs and they both let out blood cuddling sounds of some sort. There on the edge of one of the cliff stood Charlie's Angels, and Alice was the first to dive over the side, followed by Rosalie and then Bella. Needless to say we pulled over. More so to get over the shock of watching our girlfriends jumping off a cliff. Emmett was the first to reclaim his voice.

"Did we just see that?" he asked, practically hyperventilating.

"Yes, let's get to Billy's house. NOW!" Edward yelled. I think I had wet my pants. I've never been so scared before in my life. I just wanted to know that the girls were ok, but there was no way I could know from where we were. Even though Emmett broke the speed limit on the way to Billy's, it still took an eternity. Finally, the house was in view, and we all jumped out of the car. We ran to the front door and I pounded on it like my life depended on it.

"Coming!" I heard a muffled voice from inside. Harry Clearwater opened the door a few moments later.

"Hi boys!" Harry said, when he opened the door. We barged in.

"Where's Billy." Emmett growled.

"He's in the kitchen," Harry pointed towards the kitchen, with a startled look on his face. The next thing I knew, we were in the kitchen.

"Hello boys," Billy said frying fish.

"Why are the girls cliff diving?" I asked. I hadn't noticed that I was shaking.

"Now now boys. I can't answer that. Remember I told you, it would be best if they told you themselves." Billy replied as if he asked us to sit down for a cup of tea.

"Want to stay for dinner? We have plenty." He offered. I noticed Emmett was about to say no.

"Yes, we'll stay. We have to ask you about a Camaro anyway, so we may as well." I answered.

"Where's Jacob?" Edward asked. I looked at him like he had lost his mind.

"He's with Charlie's Angels." Billy answered, trying to conceal his laughter. Edward looked as if he wanted to hit something.

"Don't worry, they'll be back shortly." Billy replied.

"Will they ever tell us?" I asked.

"After today, they may not have a choice." Billy answered.


	26. Siren's Call

**Hey Gang, sorry about the delay with the updates. work, school and learning a new language are really time consuming. As usual, I own nothing Twilight. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I promise to try and update again sometime this week. Also thanks for the great reviews. :)**

**Siren's Call**

**Alice:**

"That was amazing!" I said after surfacing from the cliff dive. I have to admit, it was a rush!

"You can say that." Bella answered. She looked less than thrilled, dare I say terrified.

"Don't tell me you were scared." I replied. It's clear that adventure needs to be very high on Bella's training program.

"Let me put it to you this way, I found out I can still pee in my mermaid form." Bella answered.

"Ew, and let that be the end of the conversation." Rosalie said, from behind us. We had no idea she Rosalie had even surfaced.

"This is part of your training. You may have to make a fast getaway, and swan diving, no pun intended, off a cliff may be something you have to do." Rosalie explained.

"I thought that height would've killed us." Bella said.

"Nope! Mermaids may look delicate, but we're a rather sturdy bunch." I said, grinning like a fool. I just loved being in the water.

"I guess we better get going, we've practiced quite a few dives." Bella said.

"Before we go, we need for you to do a water manipulation." Rosalie said to Bella. Bella looked crestfallen.

"You really have to practice, Bella." Rosalie insisted.

"Here, make a ball of water, like this." I said, scooping up some water, and forming a slightly jiggly ball. I perfected it until the ball looked like a steady, constant swirling sphere. Bella looked impressed and Rosalie just smirked.

"Give it a try." I said. So Bella scooped up some water, and managed to accomplish a jiggly ball for several minutes, before it broke apart.

"That wasn't bad, but I suggest you log some serious time in the bathtub and practice your water manipulation. Come on, let's swim for the shore." Rosalie said, right before diving underwater to swim towards the shore. Bella and I were just about to join Rosalie, when we heard _her._ I stopped instantly, Bella had a look of confusion on her face, and Rosalie instantly surfaced. We heard an absolutely amazing singing voice. Very melodic, haunting even, as if the owner were from Whales or Ireland, yet at the same time ethereal and other worldly. Rosalie and I were instantly on alert, but Bella however replied to the voice with her own melodic, haunting, other worldly singing. We swirled around and stared at her, speechless in shock. Rosalie was the first to regain speaking ability and respond.

"Why the hell didn't you tell us you're a siren?" Bella stared at Rosalie stunned.

"I don't understand, you can't understand her?" Bella asked in confusion. I gaped at Bella in surprised.

"Bella, sirens have the reputation for being rather wily and vicious type of mermaid. They sing in four languages only. Gaelic, Welsh, Latin and Ancient Greek, which means you understand those languages naturally. Which is she singing in now?" I asked. It was Bella's turn to stare at me in shock.

"How can I understand a language naturally, let alone four? And why do you two look like you've seen a ghost?" Bella had entirely too many questions, when we could be in danger.

"Bella, sirens are the most alluring and that most cruel of our kind. With one song, they can make a man fall to his knees, they lure ships into unsafe shallow waters, and they can seduce people, usually men into doing anything they want. Rarely are sirens good natured." Rosalie answered.

"Well this one is, because she's warning us not to come to shore near Jacob's house, and I think she's singing in Gaelic. I'm not sure." Bella replied. I just stared, Rosalie shook her head in disbelief.

"Ask her why we can't come to shore near Jacob's place." Rosalie said. Bella lifted her voice in a brief song, and shortly there was another alluring and haunting reply. We looked at Bella expectedly.

"She says, because they're looking for us." Bella replied.

"It can't be Jacob, or anyone on the rez, most of the Quileute tribe knows about us." I said.

"Maybe it's the mysterious three." Rosalie offered, looking at me for confirmation.

"No, they've been quiet for a while. Maybe it's the boys." I supplied. They looked doubtful.

"Think about it, we're pretty sure they know, and they're the only ones other than Angela and Charlie that knew we were coming here today." I said.

"Ok, so that brings me back here. Why is the siren warning us? Do you two know anything about another family of mermaids living in Forks?" Bella asked.

"No, nothing. Mom never mentioned anyone before." Rosalie answered.

"Mom never said anything to me either. Then again, most land mermaids never really advertise who they are." I replied. Rosalie nodded and Bella looked thoughtful.

"So what do we do now?" Bella asked.

"We find another way home." I replied. We got on shore a few miles away from Jacob's house, dried off and called Charlie to pick us up at a designated spot. Bella had sent a text message to Jacob, explaining that we wouldn't be returning to have dinner with him and his father. I felt sort of sad really, because Jacob really helped us relieve a lot of stress. Being around someone that knows our secret is relaxing, we don't have to spend so much time hiding. Now we had another dilemma. There were other mermaids, specifically a siren, and they knew about us. I knew there were more than one, because we rarely lived alone. We shuffled along to the parking lot where we asked Charlie to pick us up. About twenty minutes later, he was there in the SUV cruiser.

"Where's your truck, Bella?" Charlie asked, once we got in.

"It's at Jacob's, could you please pick it up? I know its not regulation to let us drive your cruiser, but something has come up and we need to make ourselves scarce." Bella explained, with a pleading look. Charlie looked at all three of us questioningly, before giving a quiet nod. He drove towards the Black house, and he let us out a little ways away, then handed Rose the keys.

"Do I need to review how getting the cruiser back to the house in one piece is so vitally important to your futures?" Charlie asked. He was serious. We all gulped and nodded, Bella and I climbed into the cruiser and Rosalie got behind the wheel and drove out of sight, before speeding away.

"Rose, be careful, Charlie will die if he finds out we were speeding in the cruiser." Bella said in a slightly panicked voice. Rose complied and slowed down. We were silent on the way back home, each of us deep in our own thoughts.

**Rosalie:**

I slowly pulled into the drive way and before I could stop, Bell and Alice hustled out of the car. I pulled the cruiser up a little ways before parking it. I sat there, gripping the steering wheel, letting everything that happened this afternoon soak in. Emmett and his brothers know. I know it. The biologist were out there, and we're waiting for their first move. Bella needs more training and it turns out she's a siren. How the hell are we going to handle that training? Alice was dreading the impending visit from her father and I still needed to gain control over my ability with fire. And now… we know about the other mermaids. The other mermaids. I let that thought sink in. Chances are that the biologist may not be looking for the Swans specifically, but any mermaids would do. I or, we needed answers. I don't think we could handle anymore news… but I also realized that bad news doesn't rain down casually like a warm, dewy happy spring sprinkle. Bad news thundered down like a random hail storm, that could stop and start at any moment. At this time, the hail storm had started, and it didn't look likely to stop anytime soon. I got out of the cruiser and ambled into the house. I didn't see any sign of Bella or Alice. Not surprising, we needed time to think. I plopped down on the sofa to think about everything that happened this afternoon. Just when I was relaxing and getting comfortable, my cell phone called out with my song selection for Emmett Cullen, "Object of My Desire". I shut my phone off. Yeah, I know, corny and all around bad idea for a ring tone, but it's true. Besides, Emmett was the furthest thing from my mind. Everything was happening so fast, and that's when it hit me. I had to call my mother.

"Hello?"

"Mom."

"Rose! Its about time."

"Mom, not now. Stop. Why didn't you tell me about the other mermaids?" I asked, wanting to head any questions off at the pass. However, mom wasn't quick to reply.

"Mom?"

"Who told you about the sirens?" My mother replied softly.

"You know they're sirens?" I was out done. Unbelievable. My mother sent me out here completely unprepared, and Uncle Charlie hadn't said a word. That ended today.

"Yes mom, we know about the sirens. Who are the other mermaid families and which family are made up of sirens?" I asked, getting pissed. I needed to control my anger, because the spontaneous combustion hair-on-fire incident wasn't going to happen again. As much as I hated that bitch Lauren, I didn't want to start the habit of setting random people and things on fire.

"Rosalie, honey, we have to have a long conversation about the other families, but there's only one family that you need to be worried about. The sirens. They are the…" Mom was on the verge of telling me when I heard Charlie come in. He took one look at me and then,

"Bella, Alice. Living Room!" Charlie bellowed out.

"Mom, gotta go." I said and ended my call, more than a little frustrated. I would have to have a very serious talk with my mother later. Bella and Alice were downstairs in a few seconds. Charlie was pacing back and forth, he seemed agitated.

"What happened out at First Beach?" He asked.

"We made it to Jacob's and then he took us to the cliffs to practice diving, when we finished up, we practiced water manipulation with Bella, then we decided to head to shore. That's when we heard the siren and we discovered Bella is a siren." I blurted out. Honestly, it was becoming too much. My cousins just stared at me and Charlie, well I could tell Charlie was trying to decide on what to talk about first.

"Siren. Did you say siren?" Charlie asked, his eyebrows high on his forehead, as he turned to take a good long look at his daughter. Bella blushed furiously.

"Yes." I replied, slightly irritated with myself for my sudden case of logorrhea.

"Interesting. There hasn't been a siren in the family for over three hundred years." Charlie stated, with slight awe in his voice. I could understand, because I was the first mermaid in our family in about five hundred years to be able to produce and manipulate fire.

"Charlie, do you know about any sirens in Forks?" Alice asked.

"No, but in Port Angeles, maybe. There were several families that lived there that we really didn't know about. We heard of them, but we didn't really get the opportunity to meet any of them. So I really can't tell you if they were sirens on not." Charlie replied. I was even more surprised by this news, and it didn't quite match with my mother's story. I didn't think my uncle was lying, on the contrary, Charlie has always been private and a loner, so it wouldn't surprise me if Mom and Amaryllis were familiar with other merrpeople and not Charlie. Plus mermen, by nature, were shy of people, both mer and completely human. I think Charlie was really the only merman I've known

"Charlie, do you have a tail or do you keep your legs in water?" I blurted out the question before I could stop myself. Charlie was completely taken by surprise, and once again, I felt ridiculous.

"Well, I mostly keep my legs." Charlie replied mysteriously. I glanced at Alice and Bella, and they looked as dumbfounded as I felt. I wasn't ready to know anything else at the moment.

"Back to Bella being a siren, how long have you known about this Bella?" Charlie asked, turning his attention back to his daughter. I felt like an idiot.

"I've always been able to sing, Dad. I didn't think it had anything to do with being a mermaid. Well, not anything special. I remember Rosalie mentioning that mermaids have the talent for singing." Bella replied.

"That's true, mermaids have beautiful singing voices, but sirens are a bit different. There are specifics to how a siren sings. We have a book about sirens in the library, perhaps you should check it out." Charlie answered, looking a Bella.

"Charlie, where did we get all these books?" Alice asked.

"Each family writes out their own history and then writes out the history of the merrpeople. Now let's talk about cliff diving. Who's idea was that?"

"Um, it was mine. I thought it was a good idea." I explained. Charlie gave me an incredulous look.

"I just thought it may come in handy for a fast getaway." I explained. Charlie twitched his moustache.

"Ok. We'll talk more about all this later. I asked about First Beach, because when I went by Billy's house, the Cullen boys were there, and they seemed to be expecting you." Charlie explained.

"Well, we sort of, maybe, suspect that they know what we are." Alice replied. Charlie was silent for a while, before sniffing and asking,

"How sure are you?"

"Ninety-nine point nine percent." Bella answered.

"Hm." was Charlie's only comment.

"Dad, should we tell them?" Bella asked, she looked as nervous as I felt.

"Well, you should see if you can trust them before telling anyone. Besides, Bella, Rose, you two have to work on your training. Oh, and Alice, your father called. He says he's coming to visit you in two weeks. He says he's been trying to call you, but you haven't returned any of his calls." Charlie delivered this message completely devoid of emotion. I was sure of it. So why did I get the feeling he was completely accusatory. Alice had the grace to blush.

"I'll call him tonight." Alice was resigned.

**Alice:**

Charlie is remarkable. I don't understand how he could make me feel so guilty, but he did. I just didn't know how I was going to talk to my dad. The thought of what he put my mother through, and what he's put me through recently, made me sick to my stomach. I promised myself I would call him sometime this week. However, in all honesty, Dad could wait. My current situation was spinning out of control, and fast. What started out as a small flame, was quickly becoming a raging fire, with more logs being thrown in the fire.

I really thought coming here would give me a new prospective, and it has. Now with the threat of being discovered by total strangers, things just seemed to be cropping up. I needed to figure out how I was going to tell Jasper about my gills, while helping Bella sharpen her skills. And now those skills, included siren training. Great. This just meant Bella could potentially turn out to be more temperamental, than even Rose. This new development was very worrisome, and one that needed immediate attention. I glanced over at Bella, and she looked thoroughly overwhelmed. I sighed, because I couldn't really blame her.

"Bella, let's go have a talk outside." Charlie said to her, steering her towards the backdoor and out into the backyard. I was mildly surprised, because obviously, Charlie knew that he had to do certain things first hand with Bella, now that it has been discovered what she is.

"Alice, I can't believe you've been avoiding your dad all this time." Rosalie said once Charlie and Bella were gone.

"You have no idea what's been going on with the family. Besides, he wants me to accept my brother." I replied. I was just mildly upset.

"Accept your brother? You say that like you don't want to, besides you can't get angry now, something could happen with your powers." Rose answered looking earnest.

"Look, just because you set Lauren on fire, doesn't mean I don't have control of my powers!" I said, in a slightly loud voice. Just then, Charlie and Bella came running into the house. They were drenched.

"Which one of you turned on the sprinkler system?" Bella asked, shivering, wet and then… _flop._ She was a mermaid.

"Shit! My favorite jeans are ruined." Bella sounded bummed.

"Bella, you have to exercise more control, concentrate." Charlie sighed.

"Sorry Bella, Uncle Charlie. I lost my temper." I confessed, glancing at Rose in mortification. She looked a little smug.

"Bella dry off, then meet me in the shed." Charlie said heading upstairs to dry off. I studied Charlie and then noticed Rose and Bella. Nothing out of the ordinary, not even one scale. We looked at each other, and I just shrugged.

"Maybe we can ask him once everything has blown over." Rosalie suggested. I sighed and went up to my room. We clearly had a lot going on. I settled in to try and start my homework, but it was half hearted. None the less, it had to be done. Just when I was hitting my stride, my phone sounded. I didn't bother to even look at the caller id, I just answered, prepared to have it out with my father. I took a deep breath.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Alice? Thank goodness you're alright. I saw you this afternoon. Please, no more cliff diving. I can't handle it." the voice on the other end said. I gasped in shock.

"Jasper?"


	27. Topsy Turvy

**Hey kids, here's the next chapter of Pearls. I know its been a while, but I promise more regular posts. Also be patient with me, as this story is more a saga and I'm still in the midst of world building and character set up. I hope you all enjoy this new chapter. As usual, I do not own Twilight. PM questions are always welcome! thanks!**

Topsy Turvy

**Jasper:**

"Jasper! Oh! I thought you were somebody else!" Alice replied and my heart sank.

"Is there someone else?" I asked quietly. I needed to know, because I couldn't for the life of me figure out who she could be talking about.

"No, nothing like that, I just thought you were my father." She answered, and her tone was, a little off.

"Would that be a bad thing?"

"No, but that's not important right now. You saw me cliff diving, and you want to know if I'm ok."

"Yes, you scared the living shit out of me." I replied, trying to remain calm.

"I'm sorry I scared you, but I have to say, we're thrill seekers." She replied, will mild excitement in her voice.

"Thrill seekers, huh? You sure that's all? Because cliff diving is more than just thrill seeking." I knew I was pushing it, but I needed her to say it, to tell me what was going on.

"Yeah, well, I can't explain everything right about now. Jasper, the one thing I can tell you is this. I promise, you will know all about me, but it's going to take time, I mean we just met. Honestly, I don't want to rush this, because I'm not going anywhere." Alice said, and I didn't quite know how to respond.

"Ok, I get it, back off for a while. Ok, but just so you know, Alice, this is new to me as well, I've never had to try so hard with a girl before, so I'm just as unsure as you are. I want you to know that." I answered, terrified at my answer, wondering if I had put too much out there. There was a moment of silence before she responded.

"I get what you mean and thank you for telling me that, it means more than you know now. Listen, have to get going, I'll see you tomorrow at school, alright?" She asked.

"Yeah. Alice, can I take you out on a real date?" I felt my stomach drop to my groin, because I don't know where the question came from, again a long moment of silence before she responded.

"Yes, that would be fantastic." Was is me, or did she sound a little breathless? I hoped so, because I needed to know about this mystery girl.

**Emmett:**

"So are you going to call her?" Edward asked me.

"Not tonight, I mean Jasper has already stated he wants to call Alice tonight, I just don't think we should seem obvious." I answered.

"We won't seem obvious." Edward answered, his face slightly going red.

"I think we might, I mean we've been doing things altogether, maybe we should switch it up a little, get them to let their guard down. Billy already stated that when they're ready, they'll tell us. The three of us teaming up on them would come off as intimidating, and it's clear that they will travel in a pack, always together. Perhaps if we ease up, they will relax more as well." I answered. Edward looked at me like I was a genius or something.

"Hmm, perhaps you're right. Ok, we let Jasper have tonight for a phone call, ask him how it turned out and then we'll go ahead from there." Edward said. He still looked keyed up, not that I could blame the guy.

"When do you think they'll be open to telling us?" He asked suddenly.

"I think when they feel we can handle it. Honestly, I can wait for Rosalie to tell me all about it. This has to be the strangest experience of my life so far, and I know it's going to take some getting used to." I answered.

"Yeah, I already have questions, and Bella hasn't even said anything yet. I wonder, what is it exactly that mermaids do?" Edward asked, trying out saying that word out loud. I had to admit, I cringed slightly when he said it. It felt to, surreal? Is that the word I'm looking for?

"I guess we can look up mermaid lore and write down questions, so that when we're told, we can find out what's true and what's false." I suggested. Edward still looked out of sorts. I knew the feeling.

"Well, goodnight, I think I just want to hit the sack early." Edward responded and then left my room. I stayed up for a while, googling mermaids. I'm googling mermaids... I never thought I lived to see the day. What next?! Am I supposed to start watching episodes of "My Little Pony"? I guess this was going to take some getting used to. After reading a few things, I started to feel my eyes getting heavy and so I went to bed. There I had a dread I was a sailor turned pirate and my crew was shipwrecked and Rosalie came to save me.

**Edward:**

I got up for school the next day, not quite sure knowing how to feel. The sight of Bella cliff diving had scared me shitless. How in the world, would I protect my girlfriend if she insisted on doing shit like that?

"Good morning sweat heart." Mom said as I entered the kitchen.

"Morning." I answered, grabbing a toasted English muffin and putting a sausage patty with cheese and egg between the bread.

"You look like you had a rough night." Mom said, I guess she got a real good look at my face.

"Thanks mom." I said sarcastically.

"Ah sweetie, try to get some rest. I'm off to Port Angeles, there's an estate sale there that I just can't miss." Mom was then on her way out the door. I waited until she left, and then I pulled out my phone.

"Hello?" There was the voice I had been dying to hear since last night.

"Hey there, how was cliff diving?" I blurted out before I could stop myself. There was a long pause.

"It was exhilarating?" Was she answering my question with a question?

"You're not sure?"

"No, I'm not. I will say that it was definitely thrilling, just not sure if that's good or not." She answered with a slight giggle to her voice. I smiled, because let's face it, I was totally into this girl.

"Ah, well, can you just warn me next time you do something like that? I'm not sure I could take any more surprises like that." I answered. Was it me, or did she gasp slightly.

"Ah, no more surprises. I'll try and keep that in mind."

"So why the cliff diving?" I found myself asking, not sure if I should have asked that question yet. I mean I had a few guesses as to why, but I knew I would only get half the truth.

"Rose and Alice seem to think I need some excitement in my life." She answered and I could tell she was smiling.

"Ah, I'll see you soon at school, but I have one thing to ask you before. Can I take you out to dinner sometime next week?" I couldn't believe I was so nervous.

"Ok, but it will have to be on the weekend, I'm not sure how dad is about dating on a school night." She answered. Of course I smiled like a buffoon, but I had to admit, I was looking forward to lunch and to biology.

**Alice:**

I was excited about school, because I would see Jasper and perhaps we could discuss date details. I knew I should be so excited, considering everything that was going on, but I was. I put on a fabulous outfit for school, consisting of low-rise jeans, with a creamy strappy camisole and oversized band tee-shirt and cute leather ankle boots. I wanted to look amazing.

"Alice, could you come down here?" That was Charlie. Figuring he wanted to still discuss our stunt from yesterday, I headed downstairs. Once I got the living, I stopped dead in my tracks. Rosalie looked apologetic and slightly shrugged her shoulders. Bella was nowhere in sight and Charlie's face seemed to say, "I told you so". I finally fully looked at my visitor.

"Dad, what are you doing here?" I was completely floored. Why was he here?

"Alice, you weren't returning my phone calls. I need to speak with you. You know, your grandmother was very upset when you left." I looked at my dad, and I saw that he had aged. His dark hair was grayer than I remember, especially at the temples and his handsome face looked haggard. His tall form seemed a little diminished, and he seemed frustrated.

"What do you want?" I asked, and I knew I was being rude.

"Alice, you have to understand that you weren't the only one hurt by your mother's death." He started, I noticed Charlie stiffen at this statement, and his face blanked.

"Everyone has felt the effects, we're all in mourning. Your grandmother was very hurt by the way you left Biloxi. Alice, I know that I've failed you, but there were things going on that you are too young to understand." I stopped my father right there.

"I understand and know what cheating is, don't treat me like one of the bimbos you fuck when you think no one is watching." I was incensed.

"Watch you language young lady!" Dad replied, raising his voice.

"Leave me alone and you won't have to worry about my language! I'm NOT going to patch things up with grandmother; she's a hateful old bat that doesn't like me! It's okay, because I'm with the family that I belong with, the Swans. Grandmother has little boy Brandon she can now praise to the skies." I answered back in a raised voice. I'm not sure what I looked like, but Rose and Charlie were signaling me to calm myself, and I tried, I couldn't afford my father seeing anything out of the ordinary. He didn't deserve to see that part of me.

"Alice, there are issues you don't understand," dad started again.

"Why did you marry my mother? You didn't love her, so why did you marry her?" I asked, I fought against the tears that threatened to come. My dad looked at me in dumbfounded silence, and that's when I saw it, the hurt in his eyes and his face.

"Alice, I…" But he just continued to look hurt. He sat down on one of the sofas and put his head in his hands. He looked broken.

"Please, dad, I just have to know. Why did you marry my mother and you didn't love her?" he didn't answer he just sat there with his head in his hands, and I didn't understand what was going on. I had never seen my dad like this before, and I had to admit, even though he is a jerk, he was scaring me.

"Alice, maybe we should get to school." Rosalie said, coming towards me and gently grabbing my arm and leading me away. I allowed he to lead me away and then I turned a grabbed my belongings for school.

"I'll drive today Alice, I think you may need to take a break today." I noticed how Charlie nodded towards Rose, agreeing with the idea. Before I headed out the front door, I glanced back, and I saw Charlie walking towards my father with a hot cup of coffee. Maybe dad was right; there were issues I didn't understand, because just briefly, I could have sworn I saw something I had never seen on my father's face before. Love.

**Rosalie:**

Perhaps I was crazy, but there seemed to be a lot of avoidance and secret keeping between the adults as well as us teens. I'm not sure what I saw between Alice and my Uncle Brandon, but it was confusing as hell. It was clear we all thought one thing, but he felt another, and Uncle Charlie didn't seem too surprised himself. I hated to admit it, but another mystery was unfolding, and this time it was the mystery behind the marriage of Amaryllis Swan and J.B Brandon. Something was definitely off. I couldn't handle it, another mystery. I couldn't wait for Bella to hear this one. However I thought more about the dynamics between Alice and her father, and I knew, I had to get things sorted with my own mother. First, I would talk to Charlie, he would know the right things to say to get my mother talking. I really needed to know about the siren family and more about what happened when she saved Billy Black.

**Bella:**

I slipped out early this morning, wanting some alone time. I drove down to first beach to watch the sun come up, and while there, I got a phone call from Edward. He asked me out, and I had to say I was ridiculously happy about that. After speaking with Edward, I decided I should head to school and get the day over with, when I noticed three people pulling upon the other side of the parking lot. They actually had a metal detector and some other equipment, and I couldn't help thinking that I would have found them kind of funny, if I didn't get a strange vibe from them. I didn't think anything of it, and I got in my truck and headed to school.

By the time lunch came around, my day was looking very different then when it had started. I noticed that we were sitting in a secluded table.

"What's with Alice?" I asked Rosalie, as I stared at my cousin. She looked a wreck.

"He father came to visit this morning." Rose replied. I did a double take, "Speaking of, where were you?" She asked.

"I drove down to First Beach to watch the sunrise." I replied pathetically.

"Yeah, things didn't go the way anyone expected." Rose explained.

"How do you mean?"

"Well, Alice was all ready to let her father have it, when it dawned on her that as usual, everything was not what it appeared to be in the Brandon household. She'll have to explain to you later." Rose said, filling me in. Alice looked up from her food tray and was about to say something, when she suddenly became very focused on me. Her eyes were intense and sharp.

"You've seen them, haven't you?" She asked.

"Seen who, they boys?" I asked confused.

"No, the Armitage family." Alice replied.

"No, I have no idea what they look like."

"Yeah, but your future has shifted, and it has something to do with you making some sort of contact with them." Alice explained, while Rosalie's head whipped back and forth like she was watching a tennis match.

"Has anything unusual happened today?" Alice asked, probing.

"No, I drove to the beach to watch the sunrise and to have little alone time." I replied.

"Did you see anyone or anything out of the ordinary?" Alice asked, even more intense. I was about to say no, when I remembered the three people with equipment.

"Actually, I did see three people with a metal detector and some other equipment and I did get the feeling they were a bit strange." I answered, trying to act calm. Alice's eyes widened as she leaned back in her chair. Just then Angela came up.

"Hey ladies, what's up? The Cullen brothers are looking for you three." She said softly, smiling. I noticed her smile didn't meet her eyes and she looked a little run down.

"Angela, what's the matter?" I blurt out before thinking, and I noticed Rosalie and Alice fully look at Angela as well. I was confused as to how to feel; elated to have some scrutiny off me, or bummed, because I just put Angela on the spot.

"Well, my boyfriend and I broke up, and I'm not sure how I feel about it." She explained.

"Wow, I thought you two loved each other." Rosalie said, stunned. I was picturing Angela with her boyfriend at the bonfire. They looked so happy, I guess that wasn't the case.

"I thought we did love each other, but we got talking and we both realized we wanted different things, and I had to admit to him, that I didn't feel as strongly about him as thought. I guess I'm hurt because I've just gotten used to him being my boyfriend. When I asked him if there was someone else, he said why should I care, since I never loved him. I feel as if my world is topsy turvy; it must be a full moon." Angela said, and Alice started at this comment and seemed to really look at Angela.

"Well, we're sure that it will all work out for you. Why don't you come by our house this weekend, we'll have a girl's night." Rosalie offered. I found that I was a little excited about this idea, and smiled encouragingly at Angela. Alice nodded her head slowly in approval.

"Wow, thanks that would be great. What time should I come over?" She asked, smiling more, this time, her smile reaching her eyes.

"How about eleven thirty, we'll make a day of it." Alice replied, smiling softly. The bell sounded and we all got up to go to our classes. I was still left wondering what Alice was going to say as far as the three strangers. I got the feeling they were strange, but I didn't see how they were a threat. I guess we needed to talk to Charlie about Alice's visions.

**Angela:**

I guess I was taking my break up pretty hard, but I had to admit. I was into someone else and I felt that he could be the one I should be with. Ben Chaney was the most handsome boy in school, second to the Cullen's. Unlike the Cullen's he was quiet, serious and focused on his studies. I don't think I had ever heard of his even asking about a girl. If so, he kept it to himself.

Now I had a dilemma, how to get him to notice me, and would he like me?

Would he accept me for who I am? Shy and slightly awkward? I had my own issues to work through, now that I was single. The most depressing thought about this breakup was, that I wasn't even that upset, I was more depressed because I felt like I really hurt my ex. That's something I really couldn't afford to do. My parents were very supportive of my decision, and I think my dad felt relief. He felt that is was too early to tie myself down with someone. I shouldn't be paired off so soon in my life, he said. My mother however felt the same, but for different reasons. She said that the women in her family had longevity and so pairing up too soon could be a tiresome thing, and that I should get out and meet people and find out exactly what I wanted.

How does one know what they want? I was glad of the girls' night, and honestly I felt myself drawn to the Swan girls inexplicably. My parents were more than elated when they moved here, stating that maybe they would be good company for me. My dad was the most trusted man in Forks, being a minister, the only other man most trusted in Forks was Chief Swan, so naturally according to my dad, his daughter and nieces must be good company. My mother was happy about it for other reasons; she felt they could give me exposure to different experiences and culture, with the three of them being from different places. I wasn't entirely sure why I felt pull, but I suppressed thoughts. I had to really control them, as I had a secret ability that no one knew about except for my mother.

Most people think that past is just that, in the past. However, with me being a post-cog, the past mattered to me greatly, as it helped me shape my future.


End file.
